The partnership will be launched at an industry gathering in Mumbai on 4th December, 2007 and will come into play beginning January 2008. The MoU aims to support, promote and further develop SII qualifications to the Indian IT-BPO industry, in particular to NASSCOM members in India and globally.

This unique partnership, the first of its kind for SII with NASSCOM, will see a set of recommendations for its membership, in the securities and investment industry. Through this association NASSCOM is looking at providing insights and inputs to its members as part of its commitment to raise and visibly assess standards in this growing industry sector, both in India and beyond.

Signing the MoU, Mr. Kiran Karnik, President said "NASSCOM is very pleased to partner with an organisation like SII that enjoys global repute in its field. We are looking at this collaboration to maintain the industry's global standards - now in the fields of securities and investment as well. The industry has very high benchmarks in areas like quality, HR practices, and information security, and we want to continuously raise the bar. A number of IT companies are already using such standards and with this MoU, we want to take it to an industry level, and create competencies at par with any other geography for this specialised area as well."

"Through this association, NASSCOM will be formally represented on the SII qualification examination panels which review and develop qualifications and is already seeking potential collaboration on further qualifications for the BPO global market", he added.

Simon Culhane, SII's Chief Executive said: "We are delighted to announce this partnership with NASSCOM here in India. As the premier trade body in the IT-BPO sector of the industry this sends a clear message to firms, their staff and potential staff, that a commitment to high standards is paramount in this expanding sector. We are delighted that NASSCOM has selected SII as its partner in India and beyond. I must also thank our India Regional Advisory Board, of which NASSCOM is a member, which has been invaluable in providing us with the strategic vision which has led us to embark on this important venture."

SII's India Regional Committee members are:

• Mr. Richard Stockdale - President, SII India Regional Committee
• Dr. Prakash G. Apte - Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Director
• Mr. S A Narayan - Kotak Securities Limited, Managing Director
• Mr. P H Ravikumar - National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited, Managing Director and CEO
• Ms. Sheena Wilson - Mellon India Private Limited, CEO
• Mr. Natarajan Radhakrishnan - Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited, Practice Director
• Ms. Ashu Suyash - Fidelity Fund Management Private Limited, Managing Director and Country Head
• Ms. Deena Mehta - Asit C Mehta Interrmediates Limited, Managing Director
• Mr. Sunil Shah - HDFC Securities Limited, Managing Director
• Mr. Nitin Rakesh - Syntel, CEO Syntel Sourcing
• Dr. Sandhya Chintala, Director Education Initiative, NASSCOM