The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), the leading training and development provider in the region, recently concluded a specialised programme on Risk Supervision and Assessment in collaboration with the United States Federal Reserve System. The programme, which ran for four days, was attended by central bank auditors and examiners from various financial institutions in Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

The training programme was designed to enhance participants' analytical skills, as well as decision-making skills for central bank examiners, covering four key risk categories: credit, operations, market, and liquidity.

The programme was delivered by Mr. Jose Peniano, Head of International Training and Assistance Team at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Ms. Valerie McIntyre, Supervisory Manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, covering four primary risk categories, namely credit, operations, market, and liquidity.

Participants were provided with lectures and group work that simulated actual supervisory activities, designed to enhance their analytical and decision-making skills.

Each lecture focused on a category of core risk and introduced a risk-focused approach to assessing and examining the activities of a financial institution. In addition to highlighting the key elements of the screening process, such as planning, implementation, and follow-up. Participants also used critical thinking skills to review institutional data, financial institution documents, previous examination working papers and summary results to identify and prioritise risk areas to assess risk management processes.

Participants also developed a written risk assessment that identifies strengths and weaknesses in functional areas, assess the overall risks of the organisation, and identifies screening techniques to employ as part of on-site inspection.

At the end of the programme, participants were provided with the necessary core skills in supervisory principles that focus on risk, the process of identifying and measuring risks in critical risk areas, the ability to evaluate institutions' risk management programmes, and to communicate effectively with supervised institutions.

On this occasion, the BIBF’s Director ,  Dr. Ahmed Al Shaikh, stressed that this important programme, which was implemented in cooperation with the US Federal Reserve, worked to provide participants with information, skills and responsibilities related to risk-focused supervision principles, as well as an understanding of the processes of identifying and measuring the inherent risks of risk areas, and providing participants with the necessary skills to analyse appropriate information, develop a profile of final institutional risks and determine material results.

Dr. Al Shaikh also expressed his happiness with this cooperation with the US Federal Reserve System in implementing this important training programme, noting that it provided a platform for participants to develop their analytical and decision-making skills.

On her part, Head of Banking & Finance Centre at the BIBF, Ms. Zeeba Askar stated, “As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving financial landscape, it is imperative for central bank examiners to have a strong foundation in risk assessment principles. We are delighted to have collaborated with such a reputable institution to provide this valuable training to our participants, to equip them with the necessary skills to identify and measure inherent risks in critical risk areas.”

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