Introduction to Banking

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand:

• The reasons why banks exist, the main services they offer, recent trends impacting on business areas, types of banking firms and the differences between domestic and international banking business.
• The pivotal role played by monetary policy and supervisory regulation and their impact on the banking sector (and economy as a whole).
• The rationale for central banking, the main tools and instruments of monetary policy and how various major central banks undertake their operations.
• The determinants of bank failure as well as the toolkits at regulators’ disposal to supervise bank risk taking.
• The causes of banking and financial crises as well as effective crisis-management mechanisms.
• The main components of banks’ balance sheet and income statements, off-balance sheet activity and how to analyse bank performance and other issues using traditional ratio analysis.
• The main risk-management approaches undertaken in banking.

Introduction to Banking

• What is special about banks?
• Bank activities and services
• Types of banking
• International banking

Central Banking and Bank Regulation

• Theory of central banking
• Central banks in practice
• Bank regulation and supervision
• Bank failures and banking crises

Issues in Bank Management

• Banks’ balance sheet and income structure
• Bank financial management
• Banking risks
• Bank risk management

Advanced Topics in Banking

• Banks and markets
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Bank competition and financial stability

FOR WHOM:

Financial regulators, Banking staff and others who wish to gain a comprehensive insight into the business of banking.

TRAINING METHODOLOGY

The training methodology combines lectures, discussions, group exercises and illustrations. Participants will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result participant will go back to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned to their duties.