FINSIA Professional Banking Fundamentals study plan

Map the Domain 1 syllabus into a written topic list and rank topics by assessed weight and personal confidence gaps

Define the regulatory architecture that governs banking practice, naming the primary regulator, the prudential standards framework and the conduct obligations that apply to authorised deposit-taking institutions

Explain the banker-customer relationship in contract, tort and equity terms, and distinguish the core duties each source imposes

Draft a one-page glossary of professional banking terminology covering conduct, disclosure and fiduciary concepts

Apply the Code of Conduct and professional ethics standards to three constructed conflict-of-interest scenarios and justify each recommended course of action

Distinguish conduct risk from credit, market and operational risk, and describe how conduct failures translate into prudential and reputational consequences

Explain responsible lending and product suitability obligations, including disclosure, affordability assessment and consumer protection remedies

Summarise how complaints, remediation and breach reporting processes operate inside a banking institution

Describe anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing obligations, including customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, ongoing monitoring and suspicious matter reporting

Explain privacy and data-handling duties that apply to customer information in banking, including consent, use and disclosure limits

Outline the compliance and risk governance structure of a bank, distinguishing the roles of the board, senior management, the three lines of defence and internal audit

Identify the professional consequences for individuals who breach banking standards, including disciplinary, civil and criminal exposure

Consolidate Domain 1 by completing timed practice on conduct, ethics and compliance topics and logging every error by cause

Begin Domain 2 by mapping the structure of the banking and financial services industry, including the roles of banks, mutuals, non-bank lenders and capital market participants

Explain how the payments system and settlement infrastructure support deposit-taking and lending activity

Explain the prudential capital and liquidity framework, including the purpose of capital adequacy ratios, liquidity coverage and the supervisory response to stress

Describe how monetary policy transmission affects bank funding costs, lending rates and balance sheet composition

Distinguish the main funding sources available to a bank and explain how each affects margin, maturity mismatch and liquidity risk

Interpret a simplified bank balance sheet and income statement to identify the drivers of net interest margin and profitability

Explain the principal financial products and services offered to retail and business customers, and match each to the customer need it addresses

Describe how credit risk is assessed and managed across the lending lifecycle, from origination through monitoring to workout

Outline the roles of the main financial markets participants and how treasury functions manage interest rate and foreign exchange exposure

Summarise the mechanisms of deposit insurance, depositor protection and resolution arrangements for failing institutions

Integrate Domain 1 and Domain 2 knowledge by explaining how prudential and conduct obligations interact in a single lending or advice scenario

Complete a full-length timed practice under exam conditions and record the score by domain and sub-topic

Re-teach the three weakest sub-topics from memory in writing, then verify against source material and correct any errors

Revise all flagged weak areas using the error logs and re-teach notes, closing each gap with a verified written summary

Rehearse exam technique by practising question deconstruction, elimination and time allocation across both domains

Complete two final timed practice attempts and compare scores to the week 7 baseline

Confirm exam-day logistics and assemble a single condensed revision sheet limited to high-risk facts and definitions