Financial Workshop Wraps Up

Details

Banking

Monday, 11 April 2011 02:26

By press release

The third week of the 2011 Training Programme for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Indigenous Financial Institutions (FIs), being executed by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in collaboration with the Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank (ABDB), concludes this week with the Risk Management workshop.

The four-week Training Programme wraps up next week at the Jolly Beach Resort with a three-day programme on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for FIs. 

At the opening ceremony on March 21, participants of the first module, Loan Portfolio Administration and Management, and invited guests saw presentations from Peter Blackman, Officer-in-Charge, Private Sector Development Division, CDB, Sean Cenac, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Public Administration, Duleep Cheddie, CEO Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank and Donald Charles, General Manager of the Antigua & Barbuda Development Bank (ABDB).

The presenters expounded on CBD’s overall objective of the programme “to build institutional capacity across key operational areas”  by emphasizing the challenges and benefits of improving the quality of loan management and administration, risk management, and credit appraisal techniques from a global, regional, governmental and local perspective.

Enthused with the challenge of contributing to the economic growth of their respective nations and to ensure the financial viability of their respective institutions, the participants of the first module were provided with the tools required for the effective management of their organisations loan portfolio, as this is one of the greatest sources of risk to a banks soundness and therefore requires effective loan policies, procedures and documentation, debt collection strategies and techniques to mitigate this risk.

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At the opening of the second workshop, Credit Appraisal, participants were provided with a comprehensive overview of the rationale for this training programme, including the existing challenges facing financial institutions in the region, the importance of investing in human capital, and the link between improved financial performance of financial institutions and their ability to access funding for expansion and diversification. These very important tenets were delivered through presentations made by the ABDB general manager and Lisa Harding, Investment Officer, Caribbean Development Bank.

The third module of the training programme that is now concluding focuses on Risk Management. This has provided participants with an understanding of risk principals and practical approaches required to effectively measure monitor and control risk inherent in the entire bank loan portfolio, as well as within an individual credit application or transaction.  Participants have been able to draw on the past experiences of regional and global companies, who have either adopted the principals of effective risk management or who have been the victims of lax credit standards, poor portfolio risk management or lack of attention to changes in the economic environment.

Next week, the final week of the programme introduces a new concept to the periodic training opportunities that the CDB extends to its borrowing member countries. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) module, which has been specifically designed for DFIs and FIs, will focus on providing participants with knowledge and technical expertise related to the use of quantifiable measurements necessary to evaluate the critical success factors needed to position their institutions for long term viability and profitability. Common Indicator Ratios will be developed based on the type of organization and its mandated goals.

While DFIs differ across countries, participants will be shown how a common set of KPIs can measure and evaluate a DFI’s contributions. The attendees will also be exposed to the Association of Development Financing Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) KPIs for DFI Manual, which outlines a set of KPIs that can be used by DFIs and their funders and regulators.

Directors, chief executive officers, senior managers, and financial officers representing eight countries throughout the Caribbean will be participating in the KPI workshop.

At the conclusion of the four-week training programme, 97 persons from 10 countries in the Caribbean representing 18 institutions would have been equipped with new knowledge and techniques to take back with them and with the mandate to not only implement what they had learn but to be willing  share with the other members of staff who did not have the opportunity to attend.


The hosts, CDB and ABDB, thanked the facilitators for imparting their wealth of knowledge and sharing their personal experiences with the participants, the management and staff at the Jolly Beach Resort and the department staff at the Ministry of Tourism who have extended their hospitality to take the visiting participants on a familiarization island tour each week of the programme.

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