The Back Office – Fundamental Process Controls

Description

The back office in a bank or financial institution has frequently been seen as the poor relation when it comes to investment in staff and systems.

Risk Audit is of the view that the back office contains the largest risks of substantial loss if internal controls are inadequate or ineffective.

The back office function is critical in the areas of:

• Treasury
• Securities (equities and fixed income instruments)
• Corporate loans

This event covers all of these elements including the various cash and derivative instruments that one finds in these units.

Of particular emphasis in the back office is the usage of technology. We examine the key systems facets and comment on how one can ensure that appropriate measures are taken to secure the control environment in this context.

We will also be examining how the operations function has changed from being a large department with extensive manual processes to a highly automated unit which is extremely dependent on experienced staff to spot and deal with problems expeditiously.

Finally we look at the facets of an efficient back office operation given the extreme focus on costs in today’s financial services world.

Aimed At

Internal Auditors, risk managers and compliance officers at all levels who are involved in reviewing back office controls in the banking and securities world.

Programme

• A review of the key processes in the treasury, securities and loans admin back office with a focus on:
Trade capture, Validation, Confirmation, Reporting, Settlement, Dealing with third parties (e.g. depositories, correspondent banks), Funding, Reconciliation, The accounting interface.
• The key systems

• The analysis of the fundamental operational risks run

• Key risk control benchmarks

• The facets of the efficient back office

• Tips for Quick Wins