Microfinance Risk and Compliance Training Course

Participants can design an enterprise risk management framework appropriate to a microfinance institution.

• COSO ERM components adapted for microfinance governance and decision-making
• Risk policy architecture, delegated authorities and committee terms of reference
• Annual risk management cycle from assessment through reporting and review
• Three-lines model roles for management, oversight and independent assurance
• Risk ownership assignments using accountable, responsible, consulted and informed roles
• Framework maturity assessment against documented practices and management evidence

Participants can create a documented risk register with clear causes, controls and treatment actions.

• Risk event statements separating cause, event, consequence and affected objective
• Process mapping identifies handoffs, control gaps and operational dependencies
• RCSA interviews gather evidence from branch, credit and support functions
• Inherent and residual risk ratings using defined scoring criteria
• Control inventory records preventive, detective, corrective and compensating controls
• Risk treatment plans specify owners, milestones, resources and acceptance criteria

Participants can set risk appetite limits and escalation triggers linked to strategic objectives.

• Risk appetite statements aligned with mission, capital and funding strategy
• Tolerance limits distinguish acceptable variation from immediate management attention
• Cascading limits from board appetite to portfolio and branch thresholds
• Early-warning triggers connect trend deterioration with defined escalation actions
• Breach protocols define notification, root-cause analysis and remediation deadlines
• Risk appetite dashboards combine quantitative indicators and qualitative assessments

Participants can assess credit risk controls across origination, approval and disbursement.

• Credit policy rules for affordability, character, capacity and collateral assessment
• Cash-flow lending analysis for informal businesses and seasonal household income
• Segregation of duties between loan origination, approval and disbursement
• Credit bureau checks, internal history and fraud-screening evidence requirements
• Delegated lending authorities controlled through approval matrices and exception logs
• File review sampling tests underwriting quality, documentation and policy compliance

Participants can monitor portfolio deterioration using complementary credit-risk indicators.

• PAR ageing analysis distinguishes current delinquency from long-standing arrears
• Roll-rate analysis tracks borrower movement between delinquency buckets over time
• Vintage curves compare repayment performance across disbursement cohorts
• Collection efficiency, cure rates and restructured-loan trends reveal deterioration
• Geographic concentration analysis identifies branch, sector and disaster exposures
• Early-warning reports assign collection actions before missed payments increase

Participants can connect portfolio quality evidence to impairment, provisioning and write-off controls.

• IFRS 9 staging concepts for significant increases in credit risk
• Expected credit loss inputs: probability, exposure and loss severity
• Provisioning policies reconcile prudential rules, accounting requirements and management reporting
• Write-off governance preserves recovery efforts, audit trails and approval evidence
• Restructuring controls distinguish genuine rehabilitation from concealed delinquency practices
• Impairment assumptions receive challenge through back-testing and portfolio segmentation

Participants can assess liquidity exposures and prepare funding-risk monitoring arrangements.

• Liquidity risk sources include withdrawal demand, delayed collections and funding concentration
• Cash-flow ladders map contractual inflows, outflows and behavioural assumptions
• Liquidity ratios monitor liquid assets, deposit concentration and funding maturity gaps
• Contingency funding plans identify triggers, sources, authorities and communication procedures
• Funding concentration limits address dependence on lenders, currencies and maturities
• Branch cash limits balance service requirements, security exposure and idle funds

Participants can identify financial risks arising from pricing, currency and capital decisions.

• Repricing gap analysis compares rate-sensitive assets and liabilities by maturity
• Interest-rate sensitivity tests estimate margin effects under defined rate shocks
• Foreign exchange exposure measurement separates transaction, translation and economic exposures
• Currency-matching policies reduce mismatch between foreign funding and local loans
• Capital adequacy monitoring links growth plans, losses, dividends and regulatory minima
• Scenario analysis tests capital resilience under credit and liquidity stress

Participants can assess operational risk and specify controls for high-risk microfinance processes.

• Operational loss taxonomy captures people, process, systems and external-event failures
• Risk and control matrices document objectives, risks, controls and test evidence
• Maker-checker controls reduce unauthorised transactions and data manipulation risks
• Branch process walkthroughs identify exceptions in cash, lending and collections
• Control self-assessments prioritise weaknesses using residual-risk ratings and action dates
• Loss-event reporting records financial impact, root causes and corrective actions

Participants can establish fraud-risk controls, reporting channels and investigation responses.

• Fraud risk assessment maps incentives, opportunities, rationalisation and control weaknesses
• Red flags identify ghost borrowers, loan recycling and collection diversion
• Surprise cash counts test branch cash integrity and custody compliance
• Whistleblowing arrangements protect confidentiality, escalation and retaliation safeguards
• Investigation protocols preserve evidence, interview records and case-management documentation
• Fraud loss reporting distinguishes confirmed cases, recoveries and control remediation

Participants can evaluate information-security and digital-channel risks affecting microfinance services.

• Information asset classification identifies confidential client, financial and operational data
• Access-control reviews test user provisioning, privileged access and timely deactivation
• Cybersecurity incident procedures cover containment, notification, recovery and lessons learned
• Mobile-money integrations create settlement, reconciliation and third-party service risks
• Data-quality controls validate borrower records, transaction completeness and reporting accuracy
• Business continuity plans define recovery priorities, alternate sites and communication trees

Participants can assess client-protection risks throughout the microfinance customer journey.

• Client protection principles address transparency, fair treatment and responsible pricing
• Product approval reviews assess affordability, terms, disclosures and vulnerable-client impacts
• Collections conduct standards prohibit coercion, harassment and misleading communications
• Complaint management tracks acknowledgement, investigation, resolution and recurring root causes
• Disclosure testing checks fees, effective pricing, penalties and language accessibility
• Conduct-risk indicators monitor complaints, cancellations, repeat borrowing and staff incentives

Participants can apply a risk-based AML/CFT programme to microfinance products and clients.

• FATF risk-based approach links controls to customer and product risk
• Customer due diligence verifies identity, beneficial ownership and stated purpose
• Enhanced due diligence addresses politically exposed persons and higher-risk relationships
• Sanctions screening controls cover onboarding, periodic review and payment processing
• Transaction monitoring scenarios identify structuring, unusual repayments and rapid loan closures
• Suspicious transaction reporting procedures preserve confidentiality, evidence and decision rationale

Participants can build a compliance management process for regulatory obligations and supervisory findings.

• Regulatory obligation registers assign requirements, owners, deadlines and evidence sources
• Compliance risk assessments prioritise obligations by exposure and control maturity
• Monitoring plans specify tests, samples, frequency, exceptions and reporting routes
• Regulatory returns require reconciliations, review controls and documented sign-off
• Supervisory examination preparation organises policies, records, explanations and action status
• Remediation trackers govern finding ownership, milestones, validation and closure approval

Participants can manage risks arising from agents, vendors, technology providers and outsourced activities.

• Vendor due diligence assesses financial strength, capability, integrity and data controls
• Outsourcing risk assessments identify critical services and concentration dependencies
• Service-level agreements define performance, security, reporting and audit-access requirements
• Agent oversight covers cash management, client treatment and transaction reconciliation
• Third-party incident clauses establish notification deadlines, cooperation and liability responsibilities
• Exit plans protect service continuity, client data and operational knowledge

Participants can prepare continuity and crisis-response arrangements for severe operational disruption.

• Business impact analysis ranks critical services, recovery objectives and dependencies
• Continuity strategies address branch closures, network failure and staff unavailability
• Crisis-management teams define authority, communications and external stakeholder responsibilities
• Pandemic, disaster and civil-unrest scenarios test operational resilience assumptions
• Incident communications protect clients, regulators, staff and funding-partner confidence
• Post-incident reviews convert lessons into control improvements and tracked actions

Participants can produce decision-focused risk reporting for senior management and board committees.

• Key risk indicators combine thresholds, trends, ownership and escalation status
• Dashboard design distinguishes leading indicators from lagging loss measurements
• Risk reports explain movements, root causes, actions and unresolved decisions
• Heat maps communicate residual risk without concealing control-quality evidence
• Board papers present appetite breaches, stress results and remediation progress
• Management information quality checks timeliness, accuracy, completeness and reconciliation evidence

Participants can design plausible stress scenarios and translate results into management actions.

• Scenario design combines macroeconomic shocks, climate events and operational disruptions
• Credit stress assumptions model delinquency, recoveries, write-offs and provisioning changes
• Liquidity stress tests estimate withdrawal, collection and funding-access pressures
• Reverse stress testing identifies conditions that threaten viability or regulatory capital
• Management actions specify pricing, collections, funding and expense responses
• Scenario governance documents assumptions, approvals, limitations and review frequency

Participants can build, review and present a complete microfinance risk and compliance pack for a defined institution.

• Institution profile defines strategy, products, clients, funding and governance context
• Risk register prioritises material exposures using inherent and residual ratings
• Risk appetite framework sets limits, triggers, owners and escalation procedures
• Control matrix documents key controls for credit, cash, compliance and data
• Compliance plan schedules AML/CFT, conduct and regulatory monitoring activities
• Board report presents indicators, stress results, breaches and treatment decisions