Banking Corporate Governance Compliance Training Course

Course overview

Banks operate under heightened scrutiny from regulators, investors, depositors and boards because governance failures can quickly become conduct, prudential, liquidity or reputational crises. Senior managers and governance professionals must be able to show that the board receives reliable risk information, committees challenge management effectively, delegated authorities are clear, and control failures are escalated and remediated. This course addresses the practical gap between knowing governance requirements and operating a defensible governance framework within a bank.

Participants examine the governance architecture of regulated banks, including board and committee mandates, the three lines model, risk appetite governance, fit-and-proper accountability, related-party transactions, remuneration oversight and regulatory reporting. They learn to map governance obligations to policies and controls; assess board-pack quality; construct committee terms of reference; test delegation-of-authority controls; maintain an action tracker; and document evidence for internal audit and supervisory review. The programme uses Basel Committee principles, EBA internal-governance guidance, COSO controls and GRC workflow practices.

Instructor-led sessions are supported by bank-specific case studies, board-paper reviews, governance failure simulations and facilitated workshops. Participants work through a fictional bank facing rapid growth, control weaknesses and a regulatory finding, applying each day's methods to its governance structure. They leave with a practical Banking Governance Assurance Pack containing a committee effectiveness checklist, governance-obligations map, board-reporting scorecard, issue-escalation log and 90-day improvement plan ready to adapt for their institution.

The course is designed for experienced banking professionals who contribute to board, risk, compliance, audit or control functions and need to improve the quality, traceability and challenge of governance decisions.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Map Basel and internal-governance obligations to board, committee, management and control-function responsibilities
• Draft committee terms of reference with decision rights, quorum rules, escalation routes and reporting requirements
• Assess board and risk-committee papers using a structured challenge and information-quality scorecard
• Test delegation-of-authority matrices for conflicts, approval gaps, override controls and evidence retention
• Design a governance-obligations register linking regulatory requirements to owners, controls and assurance evidence
• Evaluate risk appetite reporting against thresholds, breaches, management actions and board challenge requirements
• Build an issue-escalation and remediation tracker with accountable owners, target dates and closure evidence
• Produce a 90-day governance improvement plan based on a documented board and committee effectiveness assessment

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Corporate Governance Managers — who maintain board and committee frameworks and need defensible governance evidence
• Banking Compliance Managers — who translate regulatory governance expectations into monitored policies and controls
• Risk Managers and CRO Office Staff — who prepare risk appetite, breach and escalation reporting for senior oversight
• Internal Audit Managers — who assess governance design, committee effectiveness and management action closure
• Company Secretaries and Board Secretariat Professionals — who support effective agendas, papers, minutes and follow-up actions
• Senior Operations and Control Leaders — who hold delegated authorities and must demonstrate accountable decision-making

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least two years of experience in banking, financial-services regulation, risk, compliance, audit, legal, company secretariat or a first-line control role. They should understand basic bank structures, the roles of boards and executive management, operational and conduct risk, internal controls, and policy approval processes. Familiarity with reading management information, risk registers and committee papers is assumed. Participants should be able to use Microsoft Excel and review PDF documents. Prior experience as a board member, legal qualification, specialist audit certification or access to a live GRC platform is not required.

Training methodology

The programme combines focused instructor-led briefings with applied governance work. Participants analyse anonymised bank board packs, committee minutes, risk appetite dashboards and regulatory findings; identify missing challenge, ownership and escalation evidence; and revise the material in working groups. Facilitators demonstrate governance-obligation mapping, delegation testing and action-tracker design using structured templates. A continuing fictional-bank case connects each exercise, culminating in an individual 90-day application plan. Peer review sessions enable participants to compare governance approaches across business lines and control functions.

Course outline

Day 1: Bank governance architecture and accountability

• Basel Committee corporate governance principles for banks
• Board, executive management and control-function accountability
• Three lines model in a regulated banking environment
• Board composition, independence and fit-and-proper expectations
• Governance mapping from legal entity to business line
• Delegated authority frameworks and reserved matters
• Governance-obligations register design

Workshop: Participants map the governance structure of a fictional bank and produce an obligations-to-accountability matrix identifying ownership gaps.

Day 2: Board and committee effectiveness

• Board and committee terms of reference
• Committee mandates, decision rights and quorum controls
• Agenda planning aligned to annual governance calendars
• Board-paper quality criteria and decision-useful information
• Constructive challenge and documented dissent
• Minutes, resolutions and action-record standards
• Board and committee effectiveness assessment methods

Workshop: Participants review a weak risk committee pack and produce a revised agenda, paper-quality scorecard and challenge questions.

Day 3: Risk, control and conduct oversight

• Risk appetite statement governance and approval cycles
• Key risk indicator thresholds and breach escalation
• COSO internal control components in banking processes
• Control-function independence and direct board access
• Conduct risk, culture indicators and whistleblowing oversight
• Related-party transaction governance and conflict declarations
• Remuneration governance and risk adjustment

Workshop: Participants analyse a risk appetite breach scenario and prepare an escalation recommendation for the board risk committee.

Day 4: Regulatory assurance and governance evidence

• EBA Guidelines on Internal Governance application
• Regulatory examination preparation and evidence rooms
• Governance policy hierarchy and approval controls
• Compliance monitoring of governance obligations
• Internal audit testing of governance design and effectiveness
• Issue management, root-cause analysis and remediation evidence
• MetricStream GRC workflow concepts for governance tracking

Workshop: Participants convert a supervisory finding into a remediation plan with control owners, milestones, testing criteria and closure evidence.

Day 5: Governance improvement planning and simulation

• Governance maturity assessment criteria
• Gap prioritisation using risk and regulatory impact
• Board reporting dashboard design
• Management information lineage and data accountability
• Scenario-based governance crisis response
• Ninety-day governance improvement roadmaps
• Stakeholder communication for governance change

Workshop: Participants complete a board governance simulation and produce a Banking Governance Assurance Pack and 90-day implementation plan.

Tools & standards covered

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision Corporate Governance Principles for Banks, EBA Guidelines on Internal Governance, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, MetricStream GRC

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions