Jun 4 – 6 2023
(Lagos/Abuja Time Zones)

Experience the highly-interactive expert-led social learning through Virtual Classroom via Risktech & Advisory Limited.

All our 2023 Live, Virtual and Face-to-Face Classroom events feature shared (or discrete) live chat between delegates and the expert, participate in topical surveys, polling questions, group exercises and case studies for a tried -and- true engaging and gratifying learning experience.

Need to bring this course in-house and/or at your location anywhere worldwide for any sized group or 1:1 tutorial? Simply contact us for a prompt and courteous reply offering significant cost savings and dates to meet your specific requirements.

Session 1: What is Strategy?

Session 2: What type of Strategic Model should the Bank Apply?

Session 3: Establishing a Clear Vision

Session 4: Analysing the Bank’s Business Environment and Influences

Session 5: Auditing the Strategy Development Process

Session 6: Strategy in Banking

Session 7: Implementation of Strategy

Session 8: The Future of Strategy Risk Management

Having an appropriate and forward-looking strategy is critical for any firm and particularly for banks. Given the nature of the changing environment, all banks will need to identify the trends and customer expectations following the current crisis. Since strategy is part of the ICAAP provided by the bank and drives risk appetite modeling and implementation, the Board requires assurance that strategic risk is being efficiently and effectively managed.

Internal audit needs to be in a position to provide the necessary challenge to this important area and to deliver the required level of assurance to senior management. This course takes delegates through the approach to auditing the key element of strategic risk, enabling them to understand the audit approach that they will be able to apply in practice. Throughout the course, learning objectives will be emphasised through the development of practical audit programs which delegates will be able to use in practice.

This course is designed for bank internal auditors but will also be of interest to risk management and operations management and personnel.

What is Strategy? 

• Strategy and the ICAAP 

• The challenge for internal auditors  
• Three Core areas of Corporate Strategy 
• The process for developing strategy 
• The content of a strategy statement 
• The context within which strategy is developed 

• The skills needed to develop strategy 
• The objective of linking the development process to the key areas of the business 
• Auditing the strategy, governance and goals 
• Developing suitable audit approaches 
• Auditing strategy and planning 

• What is strategic risk management? 
• What is the role of the 2nd line functions? 

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address the governance of strategy 

What type of Strategic Model should the Bank Apply? 

• How did the bank come up with its strategy? 
• How does this like with the ICAAP? 
• Who is the project sponsor? 

• What are the choices that are available? 

• Prescriptive Strategies 
• Emergent Strategies 
• Business Level Strategies 

• Were multiple strategies considered? 

• What audit trail is maintained? 
• Where are the policies and procedures in this area? 
• How does a business unit provide input into the strategy? 
• Choosing Generic Business Level Strategies 
• Types of Business Level Strategies 

• Strategic Groups and Business-Level Strategy 

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address the approach taken with regard to the management of strategy including the development of appropriate policies and procedures 

Establishing a Clear Vision 

• ‘Mission’ Vs ‘Vision’  
• Auditing and reviewing mission statements for banks 
• Why do strategic plans fail? 

• Controls to be implemented to reduce the likelihood of failure 
• Bank vision and mission statements in practice 
• Controls to embed the vision into the business  
• Developing metrics to manage the implementation of vision 
• Approaches adopted to obtain Buy-in to the vision 

• Auditing the reporting and monitoring vision attainment 

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address the audit of the development, implementation, and monitoring of the bank’s vision 

Analysing the Bank’s Business Environment and Influences  

• Procedures to explore the banking business environment 
• The audit of the analysis of the external environment and its impact  
• The audit of the analysis of the general environment and market segmentation 
• What are the key changes occurring in banking and what is likely to be its impact on strategy 

• Auditing the analysis of competitor strategies  
• What are the key Influences Impacting banking products and services? 
• What analysis should have been conducted? 
• What information should have been obtained? 
• Auditing customer analysis and product differentiation  

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address business environmental, general environment, and competitor strategy analysis 

Auditing the Strategy Development Process 

• Commencing from an understanding of the bank’s current position 
• What does this mean for your bank’s vision?  Is the developed vision viable? 
• If it is not appropriate, what should audit do? 
• Auditing the process for translating the mission into goals and strategy 

• Auditing the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis     
• Auditing the process for building the environmental analysis into strategy development 
• How did the bank Identify strategic options – is there a rigorous approach? 
• To what extent has the bank considered the risk and impacts of getting this wrong? 
• Strategy and stress testing 

• Auditing the setting of objectives 
• Auditing the communication plan for communicating the strategy 

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address the development of the vision into strategy, the SWOT analysis conducted including stress testing  and the communication plan 

Strategy in Banking 

• What are your bank’s strategies at present? 
• Assessing whether they are aligned to management and regulatory reporting 
• Assessing whether they are aligned to capital and liquidity management within the ICAAP and the ILAAP 

• Auditing the inclusion of strategic risk into the risk appetite framework 
• Auditing stress testing impacts of strategic risk on other risk elements 
• What are the audit findings that could be developed? 

Case Study:  Auditing the alignment of the strategy process with the development of the ICAAP and the ILAAP and the impact of the risk appetite framework 

Implementation of Strategy   

• Auditing the Investment strategy to achieve the business strategy 
• Auditing the resource requirements analysis: 

• • Systems impact 
  • People issues 
  • Financial impacts 

• Monitoring the competitive position 
• Market share as an indicator of competitive strength. 

• Distinctive competencies as competitive tools.  
• Life Cycle Effects 
• Auditing the monitoring of the implementation 
• When and who should review the strategy? 
• How often should this be done? 

• What should be undertaken? 

Case Study:  Develop an audit program to address the implementation and monitoring of strategy 

The Future of Strategy Risk Management 

• Building this together 
• Developing audit findings 
• Delivering audit output 
• Who is the auditee? 

• Is the audit report the best place for this to be done? 

By the conclusion of this event delegates will have developed audit programs to address the following:

• The audit of the business analysis conducted
• The audit of the SWOT analysis
• The audit of the vision development and its impact on strategy
• The audit of the development of strategy
• The audit of the implementation of strategy
• The audit of the monitoring and reporting of strategy

Highly interactive expert-led intensive presentation, Q&A, group real-time in-depth case studies, regulation and discussion supported by key principles and theory. The virtual learning platform uses safe, industry preferred encrypted Cisco WebEx to optimize live face-to-face visual interaction, discrete chat, for polling and quizzes. (An invitation via email with access link is included for all participants.)