Singapore, 7 Aug 2020 (Friday) – The Singapore Management University’s (SMU) School of Accountancy (SoA) and KPMG Singapore have launched a new SMU-KPMG Work-Study Programme.

This is the first work-study programme for SoA, and the third for SMU. The other two work-study programmes are offered under the Health Economics and Management second major and the SMU-Google Square Data Analytics Programme which were introduced last year.

Cybercrime is evolving rapidly, impacting business, individuals and governments work and communications. This evolution saw an increasing demand for cyber-criminal combatants, and more specifically in the area of financial forensics and cyber forensics. This programme follows closely on the heels of the new Second Major in Financial Forensics that the school is offering from August 2020.

“With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many organisations face limitations to conduct face-to-face interactions and travel. At the same time, they are also looking to increase effectiveness and reduce business costs. All this has led to an accelerated adoption of technology on many fronts. However, such rapid adoption inadvertently increases IT, cyber and digital fraud risks, which, in turn, is driving demand for professionals in this field,” said Head of Forensic Mr Lem Chin Kok, partner at KPMG Asia Pacific. “Through this SMU-KPMG Work-Study Programme, we are honoured to collaborate with SMU to provide the students with the opportunity for hands-on learning experiences as we help develop the talent to meet the increasing demand for such professionals”, added Lem.

Cheng Qiang, Dean, School of Accountancy and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Accounting, SMU said, “We are always engaging with our industry partners to ensure that we are producing future-ready graduates through innovative and industry-responsive programmes and curriculum. As individuals and companies move to perform more transactions online, we are excited to partner with KPMG to equip our students with cyber forensic expertise. I am certain that our students will have an enriching time at KPMG where they acquire in-demand skills and gain invaluable first-hand experience.”

About the SMU-KPMG Cyber Risk and Forensic Work Study Programme

This programme will provide the following benefits:

• Assist Singaporean companies by developing talents in the fast-growing area of cyber risk and forensics;
• Provide SMU students the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the digital economy; and
• Ensure the continued competitiveness of Singapore’s Infocomm manpower.

The programme consists of three courses:

• Forensic Accounting and Investigation;
• Foundations of Cybersecurity; and
• Cyber Risk and Forensics Work-Study Elective (a 6-month extended internship programme at KPMG).

Forensic Accounting and Investigation is a new course that will be offered in August 2020 under the new Second Major in Financial Forensics. This course will equip students with the fundamental knowledge on how to investigate financial fraud. The Foundations of Cybersecurity course will provide students with the technical skills for protecting computing and networking systems against various cyber-attacks.

For the Cyber Risk and Forensics Work-Study Elective, it will offer students first hand exposure into the cyber world of Forensics, Cyber Security and Digital Trust. They will be involved in teams performing (i) forensic investigations in both white-collar crimes as well as computer forensic investigations, (ii) security reviews of systems in large organisations; these typically are extensions of a regulated entity’s financial audits and statements, and (iii) IT audits for financial systems. The student will alternate between working four days at KPMG, and studying on campus for one day each week, for a period of six months.

Credits earned under this work-study programme can be counted towards the Second Major in Financial Forensics for students who are interested to delve deeper into this area. Upon completion of the programme where they must pass and complete the three courses cited above, the students will receive a certificate co-branded by SMU and KPMG.

The programme is open to all SMU students and the school will be accepting applications in August 2020. The first run of the Work-Study Elective is planned for January to June 2021.

More information can be found at https://accountancy.smu.edu.sg/bachelor-accountancy/academic-experience/smu-kpmg-work-study-programme