OSCB Assistant Manager cheat sheet

Cash reserve and vault limits: each branch holds a defined cash-holding ceiling set by treasury; excess cash is swept to the currency chest or central vault, and any breach must be reported the same business day.

Dual control rule: cash, vault, ATM cassettes, safe deposit boxes, and negotiable instruments are handled by two officers jointly; single-custody access is a control exception, not an operational choice.

Teller balancing: cash drawers are tallied at shift close; an overage or shortage is recorded on a teller difference memo, with shortages generally recovered from the responsible teller under HR policy and overages held in a suspense account.

Branch profitability is measured by net interest margin plus fee income minus operating cost; deposit-heavy branches with low loan deployment show negative spreads and are flagged in the annual branch review.

Clearing cycle: outward cheques pass through the clearing house with a defined return window; instruments returned unpaid after the window shift liability to the collecting bank.

Business continuity: each branch maintains a call-tree, alternate site designation, and a tested manual fallback for cash and passbook transactions if the core system is unavailable.

Four-eyes authorization thresholds: transactions above a defined value (commonly set by the bank's delegation matrix) require a second officer's approval in the core banking system, not a verbal sign-off.

End-of-day checklist: day book tallies with CBS reports, suspense and sundry accounts are reviewed for unexplained balances, and unreconciled entries are escalated within 24 hours.

Credit appraisal rests on the five Cs: character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions; collateral is a mitigant, never a substitute for repayment capacity.

Debt Service Coverage Ratio = (net operating income available for debt service) / (total debt service due in the period); a ratio below 1.0 means the borrower cannot cover installments from operations.

Fixed Obligation to Income Ratio (FOIR) = total monthly obligations / net monthly income; retail lenders typically cap FOIR at 40-55% depending on income band.

Loan-to-Value (LTV) = loan amount / appraised value of collateral; lower LTV means a larger borrower equity cushion and lower loss given default.

Working capital assessment: the operating cycle (inventory days + receivable days - payable days) determines the drawing power; stock and book-debt statements are the basis for periodic renewal.

Sanction conditions precedent must be satisfied before disbursement: title clearance, valuation report, insurance assignment, and margin contribution verified in writing.

Early warning signals: overdue installments, stock statement delays, cheque returns, declining turnover, and frequent limit enhancements are triggers for account review before classification deteriorates.

Classification ladder: standard, sub-standard, doubtful, and loss assets; provisioning rises at each stage, so days-past-due monitoring drives both capital and P&L impact.

Interest computation on savings accounts is typically daily-product based: sum of (closing balance x days) x rate / days in year; compounding frequency is set in the product master.

Fixed deposit premature closure usually pays the card rate for the run tenor minus a penalty spread; the penalty must be disclosed in the account opening terms.

KYC-verified customers can open accounts; small accounts with relaxed KYC carry balance and tenure caps and cannot be upgraded without full verification.

Dormant and inactive accounts: an account with no customer-initiated transaction for the defined period (commonly 12 months inactive, 24 months dormant) is restricted; reactivation requires fresh identification.

Unclaimed deposits: balances in accounts untouched for ten years are transferred to the depositor education fund; the bank remains liable to pay the customer on valid claim.

Nomination is a customer right: every deposit account should carry a nomination or an explicit written opt-out, which simplifies settlement on death.

Service standards: complaint turnaround times, escalation matrix, and compensation for failed ATM or unauthorized electronic debits are set by internal policy and the regulator's customer charter.

Product disclosure: effective annual yield, penalty terms, minimum balance charges, and rate reset conditions must be given in writing before account opening.

Three AML stages: placement (cash enters the financial system), layering (obscuring the source through transfers and entities), and integration (funds re-enter as apparently legitimate assets).

Customer Due Diligence tiers: simplified for low-risk, standard for normal, enhanced for high-risk (PEPs, high-value cash businesses, correspondent relationships, jurisdictions with weak AML regimes).

Beneficial ownership threshold: identify the natural person owning or controlling above a set percentage (commonly 10-25% depending on jurisdiction) and any person exercising control by other means.

Suspicious Transaction Report is filed with the financial intelligence unit; tipping off the customer is prohibited, and internal reporting must be independent of branch business pressure.

Cash Transaction Report thresholds and aggregation rules apply per customer per day or month; structuring below the threshold is itself a red flag.

Sanctions screening: names are checked against designated lists at onboarding and on every list update; a potential match is frozen pending clearance, not released on branch discretion.

Record retention: identification records and transaction documents are kept for the statutory period (commonly five years after the relationship ends or the transaction date).

Politically exposed persons require senior management approval, source-of-wealth verification, and ongoing enhanced monitoring for at least the first year of the relationship.

Risk categories: credit, market (interest rate, FX, liquidity), operational, and reputational; each has an owner, a limit, and a reporting line independent of the business unit taking the risk.

Segregation of duties: the officer who originates or authorizes a transaction cannot also reconcile or custody the related asset; this is the core defense against fraud.

Key Risk Indicators are threshold metrics (exception counts, reconciliation breaks, staff turnover, overdue reviews) that trigger escalation before losses materialize.

Operational risk loss events are collected in a central register by category (process, people, systems, external) and feed capital and control remediation.

Liquidity risk: monitor the liquidity coverage ratio and the net stable funding ratio; a branch's deposit concentration in one customer or sector is a funding risk.

Internal control testing follows the COSO components: control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring.

Incident management: frauds, robberies, and system breaches are reported through the incident channel within the mandated timeline, with root-cause analysis and a corrective action plan.

Insurance and bonding cover physical and fidelity risks but do not substitute for controls; a claim can be denied where the control failure is proven.

Accounting equation: assets = liabilities + equity; every entry keeps it balanced, with debits increasing assets and expenses and credits increasing liabilities, equity, and income.

Accrual vs cash: interest income is accrued on a time-proportionate basis even before receipt; accrued interest on a non-performing loan is reversed or suspended per policy.

Suspense and sundry accounts must clear within a defined aging window; an unexplained balance is a control finding, not a permanent parking place.

Nostro reconciliation: mirror account (bank's books) vs correspondent statement, with unmatched items aged and investigated; unreconciled items beyond the window are escalated to operations head.

Provisioning: general provisions on standard assets and specific provisions on impaired assets are computed per the regulatory matrix and charged to the P&L.

Trial balance to general ledger to financial statements: the flow must tie, and any manual journal above threshold requires documented approval and supporting evidence.

Reconciliation types: bank, inter-branch, ATM cash, card settlement, and GL-to-subledger; each has an owner, frequency, and sign-off.

Month-end close checklist: accruals booked, provisions computed, suspense cleared, FX positions revalued at closing rate, and variance analysis against budget completed.

Situational leadership: directing for new staff, coaching for developing staff, supporting for competent but variable performers, and delegating for proven self-starters.

Delegation requires authority, resources, a deadline, and a defined check-in; accountability for the outcome stays with the delegating manager.

Performance feedback is specific, behavioral, and timely (SBI model: situation, behavior, impact); annual-only feedback is ineffective for correction.

SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound; branch scorecards cascade from these into individual targets.

Coaching vs mentoring: coaching is short-term, performance-focused, and question-led; mentoring is long-term, career-focused, and advice-led.

Disciplinary process: documented warning, opportunity to respond, proportionality, and consistent treatment across similar cases to withstand appeal.

Succession and cross-training: every critical branch role has a named backup; single-point dependency is a business continuity gap.

Motivation levers: recognition, clear role clarity, fair performance-linked pay, and development paths; pay alone does not sustain engagement.

Core banking system (CBS) is the system of record; channel systems (mobile, internet, ATM, POS) post to it through middleware, and any channel-to-CBS reconciliation break is a customer-impact risk.

Authentication factors: something you know (password), have (token, device), are (biometrics); multi-factor authentication is mandatory for high-risk digital transactions.

Phishing, vishing, and smishing are social-engineering attacks; the control is customer education plus transaction monitoring and device binding, not password complexity alone.

Digital onboarding uses e-KYC (Aadhaar-based or document-based) with liveness checks; the audit trail must capture the verification event, not just the final status.

Payment rails: RTGS for high-value real-time settlement, NEFT/ACH for batch low-value, IMPS/UPS for instant retail, and card networks for POS and e-commerce; each has its own cut-off and reversal rules.

Data protection: customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is role-based and logged, and third-party sharing requires consent and a data-processing agreement.

Cyber incident response: detect, contain, eradicate, recover, and learn; regulatory reporting timelines for cyber incidents are short and non-negotiable.

Uptime and DR: recovery time objective and recovery point objective define the DR design; a tested failover is the only evidence that DR works.