Dear Member,

It gives me great pleasure to share with you, through this column, updates, events, developments that have taken place in your Institute since the beginning of this year.

Capacity Building

RBI vide its notification dated 11 th August 2016 has mandated that each bank should have a Board approved policy to deploy staff with adequate qualification/certification in key areas of operations. To begin with, they have identified following areas:

1. Treasury Management: Dealers, mid-office operations.
2. Risk Management: credit risk, market risk, operational risk, enterprise-wide risk, information security, liquidity risk.
3. Accounting – Preparation of financial results, audit function
4. Credit Management: credit appraisal, rating, monitoring, credit administration.

Subsequently on the direction of RBI, IBA had constituted an Expert Group for identifying suitable institutions and courses that can provide the necessary certifications. The Group, which submitted its report in March 2017, was considered by RBI and based on the advice of RBI, IBA vide its letter dated 26 th April 2017 has advised the member banks the names of the institutions eligible for providing certification in the areas indicated above by the central bank.

I am happy to inform you that as on date, IIBF is the only institution, which is already offering certification in three out of the four areas identified by RBI.

For your immediate perusal, the courses offered by IIBF, considered by RBI and communicated by IBA to banks for certification are tabulated below:

The examinations for the above subjects are normally held by the Institute once in six months through online mode at more than 130 centres across the country. However, for the benefit of banks and candidates, an additional examination on the three courses will be held as per schedule indicated below:

I sincerely urge upon all the eligible staff to enrol for these certifications so as to enable you to understand the finer aspects of the subjects and also perform better in your workplace.

Founder Member of Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB)

The 22 nd World Conference of Banking Institutes (WBCI 2017) was hosted by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) at Lagos from 24 2 th April to 28 th April 2017. The theme of the conference was “Rethinking the future of Banking and Finance and Life Long Learning”. As a part of the conference, the establishment of the Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB) was formally announced.

The major objective of the GBEStB is to develop clear, internationally agreed standards for the education of Professional Bankers. It is expected that the GBEStB will provide, via its standards, the foundations on which the global banking industry can rebuild and sustain the high standards of ethical professionalism on which its future must be based. The aim of the GBEStB is to enhance ethics and professionalism in banking worldwide.

I am happy to inform you that your Institute will be one of the Founder members of GBEStB.

Collaboration

Your Institute, in April 2017, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Financial Institutions Training Institute Ltd. (FITI) Bhutan for development of courseware for bankers of Bhutan.

Training program for Afghanistan Bankers

I also would like to share that your Institute, for the first time, conducted a Specialised program on Credit for Afghanistan International Bank from 20th April to 1st May 2017. 18 bankers participated in the program. We have also signed a MoU with Afghanistan Institute of Banking & Finance (AIBF) for carrying out training programs for their bankers at various managerial levels.

Study tour for Egyptian Bankers

I am happy to advise that your Institute arranged a study tour on SME Financing in India for 20 bankers from Egypt through Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI) from 6th February 2017 to 10th February 2017. The study tour comprised of visits to different banks and financial institutions wherein, the delegates were explained the SME financing model followed in India along with various procedures including regulatory guidelines. The team also visited Reserve Bank of India. This was the 4th Study tour organised by the Institute for EBI.

Foundation Day Celebrations

Your Institute has stepped into its ninetieth year of service to the industry. On 29 April 2017, the Institute celebrated the 89 th Foundation Day. Mr. N S Vishwanathan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The certificate award ceremony for the 5 3 th batch of Advanced Management Programme (AMP) students was also held on the same day.

As a part of celebrating the 90 th year of your Institute, the following academic activities are proposed to be undertaken.
  ●   Inter Bank Quiz Competition
  ●   Bankers’ Meet
  ●   Outreach Programme on Banking Awareness for Prospective Bankers

The first Bankers’ Meet was organised at Hyderabad on 8 th May 2017. Dr. Y.V.Reddy, Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India delivered the Keynote address. Senior bankers attended the meeting.

Seminar on Secur-e-Banking at Chennai

Your Institute, as part of its ‘Member Education Series’, organised a seminar on “Secur-eBanking”

in association with Cyber Society of India on 17th February, 2017 at Hotel Taj Coromandel, Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600034. The main objective of the seminar was to sensitize the bankers on the current developments in the cyber security space and the regulatory requirements connected therewith.

The Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs – Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal delivered the Key Note Address. The seminar commenced with a speech by Addl DGP, Coastal Security Group, T.N. followed by three Thematic sessions. The speeches and presentations can be viewed in the YouTube channel of the Institute.

Institute’s own test centres at Mumbai and Kolkata

The test centres in Mumbai and Kolkata have been made operational and examinations on SME, Customer Service and AML/KYC were successfully conducted during February / March 2017. Please visit the website of the Institute for more details.

6 th Advanced Management Programme (AMP) launched

The Institute conducts an "Advanced Management Programme" (AMP) in Banking & Finance for working executives from the Banking / Financial sector. This is an eight-month long weekend programme. IIBF has tied up with Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, to conduct a 30-hour Management Development Programme (MDP) at their campus in Kolkata. The Programme by IIM Calcutta will form an integral part of the AMP. The last date for receipt of Application forms is 15 th June 2017. The course is scheduled to commence from 9 4 th July 2017. The programme has been designed keeping in mind the changing requirements of the banking sector and will help bankers in their career progression. I request members to enrol for the programme and succeed in their career goals.

Certificate Course in Project Finance

Your Institute conducted its 26 th batch of Certificate course in Project Finance from 15 May to 20 th May 2017. The programme is targeted at Banking & Finance professionals, officials working in banks/financial institutions/NBFCs who are involved in appraising large & medium projects, both industrial and infrastructural. The objective of the course was to equip bankers with advanced skills in the field of project appraisal, financing, etc. and familiarise them with basic issues arising in financing projects, as well as risk analysis and risk mitigation methodologies with a specific emphasis on structured financing.

Examinations

Apart from the flagship courses, the Institute has been offering a bouquet of Diploma, Certificate and Blended courses. These courses have been designed after considering their contemporariness, eliciting feedback from stakeholders and after obtaining suitable approvals. While the enrolments for the flagship courses are quite significant, the number of candidates enrolling for the other courses is relatively low. I would therefore urge all the eligible members to enrol for these examinations as part of their continuous professional development.

Video- Guidelines for examinations

The Institute has uploaded on its web site a video giving step by step details relating to examinations. The same can also be viewed on the Institute’s YouTube channel. The official channel can be reached by clicking on the YouTube logo available on the website. The members, who are appearing for the examinations conducted by the Institute, are requested to see the video for a better appreciation of the steps required for appearing for the examinations.

Mock Test

Mock tests provide a feel of the MCQ pattern of the examination. The Institute has been administering mock test for all the 3 papers of JAIIB/ DB & F and 2 compulsory papers of CAIIB. I urge upon the members to utilise this facility.

E Learning

One of the pedagogical tools offered by the Institute is e-learning. The Institute has taken up the assignment of updating the e-learning contents developed for its flagship courses namely JAIIB and CAIIB (compulsory subjects).

Social Media

I am happy to state here that the Institute has reached 55,000 plus likes on its face book page and more than 500 subscribers for its YouTube channel as on this date. This shows the interest of the members on the Institute’s Face book page. The types of post appearing on the page includes Notifications from the Institute, RBI notifications, Banking Glossary, Opinion Polls related to Banking and Finance, Quote of the Day, Season Greetings, Informing training programs and many more. The videos of the various events of the Institute like seminars, R K Talwar Memorial Lectures, PTM lectures, panel discussions and interviews of eminent bankers are uploaded on the Institute’s YouTube channel. I would urge upon the members to visit the page which will help them in increasing their knowledge and will give them a better insight on Institute’s activities. This will also be a good touch point for the members with the Institute.

Bank Quest

The Institute publishes a quarterly journal Bank Quest. The theme for April – June 2017 issue is "Challenges in Infrastructure Financing". The forthcoming issues will be based on the following themes.
  ●   Influences/Challenges for Banks post Demonetization: July – September, 2017
  ●   Micro Research Papers 2017: October – December, 2017
  ●   Cyber Security in Banks: January – March, 2018
  ●   International Banking: April – June, 2018
  ●   Risk Management: July – September, 2018 I request members to contribute articles on above themes for publication in Bank Quest.

IIBF Vision

As part of green initiative, the Institute has discontinued sending the hard copies of the IIBF Vision with effect from October-2015 to its members. In case, you have not registered your e-mail id with the Institute, I request you to do so to enable the Institute to send copies of IIBF Vision by e-mail to you in future. You may also download issues of IIBF Vision and Bank Quest from the Institute’s website.

Best wishes.

J. N. Misra
26th May 2017