Fundamentals of Credit Management for Financial Officers in Jamaica
A four-day practical programme covering the complete credit-management cycle, from borrower assessment and underwriting to approval, documentation, monitoring, collections and problem-loan management, with Jamaican regulatory and compliance applications.
What this programme addresses
Proposed by Blakes’ Training Institute (BTI).
This four-day programme gives financial officers a practical understanding of the complete credit-management cycle: customer assessment, underwriting, approval, loan structuring, documentation, disbursement, monitoring, collections, problem-loan management and closure.
Participants strengthen credit decisions by analysing repayment capacity, financial statements, cash flow, credit history, collateral, industry conditions and qualitative risk factors. The programme connects sound lending practice with portfolio-risk management, internal controls, customer treatment and applicable regulatory requirements.
The Jamaican regulatory component distinguishes the Bank of Jamaica’s supervision of deposit-taking institutions under the Banking Services Act and microcredit institutions under the Microcredit Act from the Financial Services Commission’s responsibilities for securities, insurance, private pensions, and trust and corporate services. The FSC’s role is covered where activities intersect with its remit. Requirements are tailored to the institution type and activities represented.
Participants examine applicable BOJ credit-risk guidance, the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) obligations, Financial Investigations Division (FID) reporting requirements, credit reporting and relevant legislation.
Approximately 60% of programme time is planned for practical application through Jamaican lending scenarios, anonymised credit files, calculations, case studies, credit-committee simulations, regulatory scenarios and portfolio exercises.
Before each delivery, BTI will check the regulatory modules and participant handbook against the latest applicable BOJ, FSC and FID publications, Jamaican legislation and the participating institution’s policies.
Workshop objectives
- Explain the fundamentals of credit management and apply the complete credit cycle from initial application and assessment through approval, disbursement, monitoring, collection and closure.
- Conduct sound credit assessments using borrower information, repayment capacity, financial statements, cash flow, credit history, collateral, industry conditions and qualitative risk factors.
- Make better credit decisions by applying structured underwriting, credit scoring and risk-rating approaches, appropriate loan structuring, documentation requirements and approval controls.
- Monitor and manage credit portfolios effectively by identifying early-warning indicators, past-due accounts, deteriorating credit quality, concentration risks and emerging portfolio problems.
- Apply Jamaican regulatory and compliance requirements to credit operations, with particular attention to applicable BOJ requirements, POCA, AML/CFT/CPF obligations, FID reporting requirements, credit reporting and other relevant legislation and regulatory authorities.
- Strengthen collections, recovery and problem-credit management while maintaining appropriate customer treatment, documentation, internal controls, regulatory compliance and portfolio-quality standards.
Recommended participants
- Credit officers and credit analysts
- Loan officers
- Relationship officers and relationship managers
- Branch managers and assistant branch managers
- Credit supervisors and lending managers
- Commercial and SME banking officers
- Mortgage and consumer-lending personnel
- Collections and recoveries officers
- Credit administration officers
- Risk officers
- Compliance and AML officers
- Internal auditors
- Operations managers
- Finance officers
- Portfolio managers
- Microfinance and microcredit officers
- Employees preparing for credit-management or lending responsibilities
- Credit committee members
- Senior managers who approve or oversee lending portfolios
Best suited for
Financial officers, lending teams, credit committee members and managers responsible for credit assessment, approval, administration, portfolio oversight, collections, risk and compliance in Jamaican banks and other financial institutions.
How the learning can be applied
Use this programme as a competency-development and risk-improvement intervention.
ASSESS: Conduct a short Credit Management Knowledge & Practice Assessment covering underwriting, financial analysis, documentation, regulatory understanding, monitoring and collections. With institutional permission, review relevant recent internal-audit findings and regulatory examination recommendations using anonymised information.
DIAGNOSE: Identify capability gaps, recurring credit-file weaknesses, portfolio risks and priority compliance issues. Tailor cases and activities to the institution’s lending products, customer groups and policies.
TRAIN: Deliver the four-day programme with approximately 60% practical application, including borrower assessment, cash-flow calculations, credit-file review, loan structuring, committee simulations, regulatory scenarios and portfolio exercises.
COACH: Arrange manager or designated-coach support to reinforce learning, review decisions and guide participants through practical challenges.
APPLY: Each participant develops a workplace action plan addressing an identified credit-management, risk or compliance gap, subject to the institution’s approval processes.
MEASURE: Compare learning results and agreed workplace indicators with pre-programme baselines over an institution-agreed follow-up period.
IMPROVE: Review progress, refine tools and procedures and integrate lessons into ongoing credit-team development.
The regulatory modules and handbook must be reviewed immediately before each delivery. Applicability depends on the institution’s legal status, licence, activities and current regulatory requirements.
Key topics
- Day 1: Credit Fundamentals and Borrower Assessment
- The complete credit-management cycle
- Credit governance, responsibilities and institutional policies
- Borrower information, credit history and qualitative risk factors
- Financial-statement analysis, cash flow and repayment capacity
- Practical borrower-assessment and calculation exercises
- Day 2: Underwriting, Structuring and Approval
- Structured underwriting and credit scoring or risk rating
- Collateral assessment and security considerations
- Loan structuring, conditions and repayment arrangements
- Approval authorities, credit memoranda and committee decisions
- Documentation, disbursement controls and credit-file review
- Practical credit-committee simulation
- Day 3: Portfolio Monitoring and Jamaican Compliance
- Portfolio quality, concentration risk and early-warning indicators
- Arrears monitoring and escalation
- Applicable BOJ credit-risk guidance and institutional controls
- Banking Services Act and Microcredit Act: applicability by institution type
- POCA, AML/CFT/CPF, due diligence and FID reporting
- Credit reporting and responsible handling of borrower information
- FSC responsibilities and relevant intersections with credit activities
- Regulatory scenarios and portfolio-monitoring exercises
- Day 4: Collections, Problem Credit and Workplace Application
- Collections strategies, customer communication and appropriate treatment
- Recovery, restructuring and problem-loan management
- Problem-asset classification and provisioning awareness, as applicable
- Internal controls, audit findings and corrective action
- Integrated credit-file and portfolio case study
- Individual workplace action plans and follow-up measurement