IBSL Diploma in Banking and Finance (DBF) Exam study plan

Define the five core functions of a commercial bank (deposit-taking, lending, payments, trade finance, treasury) and name one product example for each.

Distinguish retail, corporate, wholesale and correspondent banking by customer type, typical ticket size and risk profile.

Reconstruct a bank balance sheet and label at least six asset lines, six liability lines and the equity section.

Compute net interest income and net interest margin from a supplied set of figures and state what drives each.

Sequence the account-opening and KYC process in five ordered steps from identification to activation.

Trace a cheque and an electronic funds transfer from initiation to settlement, naming every party and the point at which finality occurs.

Differentiate the roles of the central bank, commercial banks and clearing houses in the payment and settlement system.

Apply the accounting equation to ten transactions and record the correct double entry for each.

Classify 20 given ledger accounts as asset, liability, equity, income or expense, and state which appear in each statement.

Prepare an income statement and balance sheet from a trial balance of no more than 15 accounts.

Record adjusting entries for accruals, prepayments, depreciation and bad debts, and state the effect of each on profit and on net assets.

Compute return on equity, return on assets, cost-to-income, loan-to-deposit and an equity-to-assets capital proxy from a set of financial statements.

Explain how a loan loss provision flows through the income statement and the balance sheet in the period it is raised and the period it is written back.

Reconcile a bank statement against a cash book and identify three causes of difference with the correcting entry for each.

Explain in three steps how a change in the central bank policy rate transmits to deposit and lending rates.

Compute present value, future value and yield to maturity for a bond with a given coupon, tenor and price.

Distinguish money market from capital market instruments by tenor, issuer, liquidity and risk.

Convert between nominal and real interest rates using the Fisher relationship across three inflation scenarios.

Explain how central bank open market purchases shift money supply and loanable funds, and the resulting effect on short-term rates.

Analyse how inflation, exchange rate and unemployment data affect loan demand and asset quality in three written scenarios.

Explain how a change in the policy rate and in the exchange rate changes a bank's net interest margin and foreign currency exposure in two worked examples.

Identify the statutory and contractual sources of the banker-customer relationship, including the duties of secrecy, care and compliance with mandate.

Explain the legal effect on a customer's account of a garnishee order, a banker's lien and a notice of set-off.

Distinguish the legal position of the paying banker, the collecting banker and the advising banker in three short scenarios.

Outline the licensing, minimum capital and periodic reporting obligations a supervisor imposes on a bank.

Apply anti-money-laundering obligations to three given transaction scenarios and decide in each whether to file a suspicious transaction report, with reasons.

State the limitation periods and evidentiary requirements for recovering a time-barred debt.

Explain the legal treatment of forged endorsements, stopped cheques and unauthorised electronic payments across four short cases.

Summarise the consumer protection duties owed to a retail borrower at disclosure, arrears and repossession stages.

Build a credit appraisal across five sections: character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions, using a supplied borrower profile.

Calculate DSCR, debt-to-equity, current ratio and interest coverage for a borrower and justify an approve or decline recommendation.

Grade a loan book into five risk classes and compute expected loss as probability of default times loss given default times exposure at default.

Distinguish interest rate risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and credit risk by source, measurement and mitigation tool.

Draft five enforceable covenants for a three-year term loan and state the remedy for breach of each.

Answer two full-length timed mock papers under exam conditions and score at least 65% on each.

Reproduce from memory the ten formulas you most frequently misapply across accounting, economics and credit.

Rank your five weakest subtopics from the mock error logs and close each one with 15 targeted questions.

Compress each of the five domains into a single revision card of no more than 12 bullet points.