A single failed system, a compliance lapse, or one poorly trained employee can cost a bank far more than a bad loan — and unlike credit or market risk, operational risk often goes unnoticed until it turns into a headline. That is why regulators and bank boards increasingly treat it as a first-order priority rather than a back-office concern.

The Identifying and Managing Operational Risk in the Banking Sector course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy gives participants a working understanding of where these risks come from, how to classify and assess them, and what it takes to keep banking operations stable when something does go wrong.

Beyond the theory, the course builds hands-on skills: spotting exposure inside real banking processes, applying the tools and techniques that reduce it, and aligning the bank's practices with the international regulatory standards it is expected to meet.

Program Objectives

By the end of the training program, participants will be able to:

• Recognise and classify the types of operational risk found in banks.
• Apply effective tools and techniques to identify and assess risk exposure.
• Build risk-management strategies suited to each risk type, and improve the bank's internal processes to reduce their negative impact.
• Comply with international regulatory standards relevant to operational risk.

Target Audience

• Executives and department heads in banks.
• Risk management specialists in the banking sector.
• Staff in compliance and internal control departments.
• Anyone working in banking who wants a deeper grasp of operational risk and how it is managed.

Module 1: Understanding Operational Risk

• What operational risk is, where it comes from, and how it differs from credit and market risk.
• Classifying operational risk as financial or non-financial, and the specific risks posed by technology (cyberattacks, system failures) versus people (human error, poor management).

Module 2: Spotting Risk in Daily Banking Operations

• Methods for identifying risk inside day-to-day banking processes, including online banking services and legal-compliance failures.
• Assessment tools such as scenario analysis, impact analysis, and performance indicators, plus quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

Module 3: The Cost of Getting It Wrong

• How operational risk hits the budget, profitability, and the bank's reputation with customers.
• Responding after the fact: recovery plans, long-term impact on operations, and crisis management triggered by operational failures.

Module 4: Building a Risk Management Response

• Strategies for avoiding and reducing risk, including automation, safety procedures, and continuous training.
• Using Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) systems and digital tools to identify, assess, and manage risk more efficiently.

Module 5: Meeting Regulatory Expectations

• International standards such as Basel III, and the role of regulatory bodies in reducing operational risk.
• Building a risk-aware culture inside the bank: accountability, transparency, and staff engagement.

Module 6: Applied Risk Scenarios

• Using scenario analysis to test the bank's preparedness and likely financial consequences.
• Addressing technology-specific threats such as cyberattacks and defective systems, and strengthening the bank's response to them.
• Assessing and managing crises once they occur, including the operational and financial damage involved.

Module 7: Preparing the Organisation for What's Next

• Developing an emergency response plan and running crisis simulations to test staff readiness.
• Applying what participants have learned to the bank's own operations, and identifying future actions to keep reducing operational risk.