Intermediate Banking Professional study guide
Intermediate Banking Professional · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Intermediate Banking Professional credential sits between entry-level banking certificates and advanced specialist designations. It is aimed at bankers with a few years of experience who already understand deposit products and basic lending and now need to work confidently across credit, compliance, treasury and risk. The Intermediate Banking Professional study guide has 7 sections and about 2,771 words.
01Banking and Financial Environment
Banking and Financial Environment tests how a bank sits inside the wider financial system: the central bank's mandate and instruments, the way policy rates travel into deposit and lending rates, the split between money and capital markets, and how sector structure and the credit cycle drive a bank's net interest margin (NIM) and fee income. The central bank sets the policy rate, manages system liquidity, oversees payment systems and acts as lender of last resort.
407 words, about 2 min02Banking Law, Regulation and Compliance
Banking Law, Regulation and Compliance tests the legal and prudential frame a bank must operate inside: licensing and permitted activities, the Basel capital and liquidity standards, large-exposure and related-party limits, AML/CFT duties, sanctions, conduct and consumer protection, outsourcing and data rules, and supervisory review and resolution planning. Minimum capital: CET1 4.5%, Tier 1 6.0%, total capital 8.0% of risk-weighted assets (RWA), plus a 2.5% capital conservation buffer and up to 2.5% countercyclical buffer in CET1.
406 words, about 2 min03Credit Analysis and Lending
Credit Analysis and Lending tests whether a candidate can move from financial statements to a defensible credit decision: assessing repayment capacity and willingness, structuring facilities and covenants, valuing collateral with haircuts, pricing for risk, and recognising deterioration early enough to act. The 5Cs: character, capacity, capital, collateral, conditions.
369 words, about 2 min04Financial Statement Analysis and Corporate Finance
Financial Statement Analysis and Corporate Finance tests the analytical layer above credit: reading statements for quality of earnings and cash conversion, building comparable ratios, spotting accounting distortion, and applying capital budgeting and cost-of-capital logic to a borrower's investment decisions and to the bank's own pricing. Liquidity: current ratio, quick ratio, cash conversion cycle (DSO + DIO − DPO).
386 words, about 2 min05Bank Operations, Payments and Treasury
Bank Operations, Payments and Treasury tests the plumbing: how accounts are opened and controlled, how payments move and when they become final, how correspondent balances and FX positions are managed, and how treasury keeps the balance sheet funded and within limits. RTGS settles individual payments in real time with central-bank money and immediate finality; ACH and card schemes batch and net, so settlement risk sits between authorisation and settlement.
389 words, about 2 min06Risk Management
Risk Management tests whether a candidate can name the risk, measure it in the right units, and govern it: the risk taxonomy, appetite and limits, the three lines of defence, market and liquidity risk metrics, operational risk under the revised Basel framework, stress testing and ICAAP. Credit, market (traded), interest-rate risk in the banking book, liquidity and funding, operational, country and transfer, reputational and strategic risk.
405 words, about 2 min07Customer Relationship and Sales Management
Customer Relationship and Sales Management tests the commercial side of banking as a governed activity: segmentation, needs-based advice and suitability, cross-sell without mis-selling, client profitability measurement, incentive design that does not reward bad conduct, and complaint handling that feeds back into process. Segment by revenue potential, product intensity, risk and channel preference; service model follows segment value rather than the reverse.
409 words, about 2 min