Sunday 26 July 2015

CIIA



CIIA  is an internationally recognized advanced professional qualification for individuals working in the finance and investment industry. The CIIA is currently recognised and supported by the world's leading Federations, European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS), Asian Securities and Investments Federation Incorporated (ASIF) and 36 national/regional societies for finance and investment professionals(www.aciia.org).
ICIFA became a member society in 2012. Increasing globalization of investment markets mean the world's key financial institutions are integrating their operations across the major financial centres of the world.
The attainment of CIIA ® provides you with the recognition of a superior standard of applied common knowledge that is essential for working in domestic and international investment markets. CIIA is the passport you need as employers recognise the advantage of hiring mobile professionals with qualifications that will enable them to work in any international financial centre.
To register, the applicant MUST first be a registered professional member of the ICIFA. 
ICIFA GRADUATES will only sit for Two papers of CIIA and become members of ACIIA. Exams to be enrolled in 2016. 
Exam Paper 1
  • Corporate Finance
  • Economics
  • Financial Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis
  • Equity Valuation and Analysis
Exam Paper 2
  • Fixed Income Valuation and Analysis
  • Derivative Valuation and analysis
  • Portfolio Management
Format and Duration 
All Examination questions are compulsory and comprise full and mini-case study questions. In-depth essay and structured computational questions.
Each examination paper lasts 3 hours

Thursday 16 July 2015

Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) Explained

Introduction
In the past, borrowers had to give lenders proof of their creditworthiness before they could borrow money. This involved face to- face meetings, visits and lots of paperwork, so it took a lot of time and effort. Due to information asymmetry, lenders were never sure that borrowers were providing all the information needed to make a good decision. As a result, they often lent money to unsuitable borrowers and sometimes refused to lend to creditworthy people.
However, today’s lending practices have changed and embraced technological innovations in the assessment of credit worthiness. Credit referencing is one of the tools that have been developed to provide credible and fast results on credit scoring. These services are readily available from Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs).
A CRB is an independent organization that holds information about economic entities (consumers, businesses), to help organizations decide whether to give them credit. They are information brokers, providing creditors with reliable, relevant and comprehensive data on the repayment habits and current debt of their credit applicants. Under reciprocity agreements, credit bureaus obtain data from creditors and other sources, consolidate and package information into individual reports, and distribute it to creditors for a fee.
Some important terms used in Credit Referencing.
Credit - Refers to the borrowing and lending of money. The ‘price’ of credit is set as an ‘interest rate’, which is the fee the borrower pays to the lender.
Credit Scoring- Assessment of the ability to meet financial com­mitments particularly to re-pay debt.
Credit Report (or file) -Information a credit reference agency holds about a person or business. It details credit history, identification information, credit accounts and loans, bankruptcies and late payments, and recent inquiries.
Negative Information – any adverse customer information relating to a customer. Example include proven cases of frauds, forgeries, cheque kiting, false declarations and statements, receiverships, bankruptcies, liquidations, false securities among others.
Searches which leave ‘footprints’-‘Footprints’ are marks left on the database each time a search is made, detailing which company has accessed the database, when and why. These ‘foot prints’ are important because they allow lenders to identify ‘abnormal activity’.
The legal framework CRBs
Many countries in the world have CRBs that work in similar ways. However, they are all slightly different. Some are publicly owned monopolies, some are owned by the banks. Some countries only allow public information (such as court judgments) to be shared. Some allow both public and private information to be shared, but they restrict private information to credit account ‘defaults’. (A default is an account the consumer has broken the terms of.)
In terms of the information held by CRBs, they come from several sources but falls into two main categories – public information and credit account information.
a)    Public information
The public information includes but not limited to:
  • Information from the full electoral roll/register, which electorates give to local electoral bodies. CRBs can acquire copies of the full electoral roll and make this available to lenders for certain limited purposes such as assessing credit applications, identifying customers and helping to prevent fraud.
  • Court judgments.
  • Bankruptcies, individual voluntary arrangements and administration orders.
b)   Credit account information
In many countries, the major lending companies have agreed to share details of their customers’ credit agreements. This means that when someone applies for credit, the lender can check they have repaid other lenders in the recent past or are repaying current credit agreements. They can also check how much the consumer already owes to other lenders and how they are managing these existing credit agreements, to help them decide if the consumer can afford to take on further credit.
For the lenders to see each other’s information, they store information about their customers with CRBs. The CRBs act as a go-between in the sharing process but do not own the information. However, the sharing of information must be consented by the customer. This occurs when consumer give the lender permission to share information with other lenders through the credit reference agencies; and it includes details about the application and about any credit the lender then grants.
As a result, the credit account information is simply a copy of the information all the different lenders hold. These lenders update our database each regular basis.
CRBs do not include information about other people who happen to live with you in your credit report, even if you share a surname, unless a financial connection has been created. This means other people’s credit details should not affect your credit rating.
On financial connection, the credit report should only include:
  • Financial information about the person;
  • The name of anyone you have a financial connection with at your address (but not any financial information about that person); and
  • The date and source of the financial connection.
However, a person will be treated as having a financial connection to someone else where a lender tells the CRB that:
  • Application for credit has been made in joint names.
  • A bank account or other credit product has been opened in joint names; or 
  • The borrower has told the CRB that (s)he financially linked to someone else.
Credit reference services in Kenya
Introduction:
The operatinalization of the Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations, 2008 on 2nd February 2009 paved way for the establishment of Credit Reference Bureaus in Kenya. Since then the Central Bank of Kenya licenced two CRBs, that is Credit Reference Bureau Africa Limited and Metropol Credit Reference Bureau Limited. Both bureaus have their Kenyan offices located in Nairobi.

Sunday 12 July 2015

November 2015 Examination_Notice



EXAMINATION DATES





Examination - November 2015 Examination

Students of KASNEB, parents, sponsors, guardians, training institutions and other stakeholders are hereby notified of the following important dates and information.

1.       Examination dates for the November 2015 examinations are as follows:

(a)  ATC, ICTT, IST and CMT Levels I and II - Tuesday, 17 November 2015, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 and Thursday, 19 November 2015

(b)  Accounting Technicians Diploma (ATD), Diploma in Information Communication Technology (DICT) and Diploma in Credit Management (DCM) Levels I and II only
Tuesday, 17 November 2015 and Wednesday, 18 November 2015

(c)  CPA, CS, CICT ,CIFA and CCP Part I - Friday, 20 November 2015, Monday, 23 November 2015 and Tuesday, 24 November 2015

(d) CPA, CS, CICT ,CIFA and CCP Parts II and III - Wednesday, 25 November 2015, Thursday, 26 November 2015 and Friday, 27 November 2015

(e)  Foreign Accountancy Qualifications (FAQ) - Wednesday, 25 November 2015 and Thursday, 26 November 2015

(f)   Foreign Secretaries Qualifications (FSQ) - Tuesday, 24 November 2015 and Wednesday, 25 November 2015

(g)  Kenya Institute of Supplies Management - Associate in Procurement and Supply of Kenya (APS-K) examination - Levels I and II

Tuesday, 17 November 2015, Wednesday, 18 November 2015 and Thursday, 19 November 2015

(h)  Kenya Institute of Supplies Management - Certified Procurement and Supply Chain Professional of Kenya (CPSP-K) - Part I examination only
Friday, 20 November 2015, Monday, 23 November 2015 and Tuesday, 24 November 2015

2.      Closing dates for examinations entries for the November 2015 examinations are as shown below:

Normal entry: Friday, 14 August 2015 Late entry: Wednesday, 30 September 2015

3.       Examination brochures and forms are obtainable on request, free of charge:
(a)  In Kenya either in person at the offices of KASNEB or through the post. The examination brochures and forms are also available at any branch of the Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) countrywide or training institutions.

(b)  Outside Kenya at the following offices in Eastern and Central Africa:

(i)     In Uganda at DMK Associates, Sabina Baiga House, Bombo Road, 2nd floor suite 05 - Kampala, Makerere University Business School (MUBS) - Nakawa, Kampala International University - Kansanga, Busoga University - Iganga, and Bugema University, Kampala Campus - Bombo Road.

(ii)   In Rwanda at Kigali Institute of Management - Rimera, University of Rwanda, College of Business and Economics, Gikondo - Kigali, Institut Polytechnique De Byumba, University of Kigali, Kacyiru Campus and Kigali Independent University (ULK).
(iii) In Burundi at the East Africa Centre for Professional Studies (EACPS), Rohero 2, Avenue Mosso next to Solecs Micro Finance, Bujumbura and Kim-PAC, Rohero 2, Avenue Mosso, No.28 - Bujumbura.

(iv) In Cameroon at Maaron Business School, 10 Rue, Joffre, Akwa - Douala and Fomic Business School, Buea, Cameroon.

(v)   In South Sudan, at the University of Juba.
(c)  Forms can also be downloaded from the website; www.kasneb.or.ke

4.       Method of payment of fees
Attention of students is drawn to the “Guide to the November 2015 examinations” regarding secure methods of paying fees to KASNEB.

(a)   In Kenya. Students are advised to pay through any branch of the National Bank of Kenya Ltd. (NBK), Equity Bank, Kenya Post Office Savings Bank (Postbank) or Co-operative Bank of Kenya. Students may also make payment in person at KASNEB offices in cash, by cheques/bankers cheques/drafts drawn in the name of KASNEB or through the post.
(b)   Outside Kenya. Students are advised to pay the applicable fees in dollars at any branch of KCB in their countries to KASNEB KCB collection account number 1123096465, domiciled at Capital Hill Branch, Nairobi. Thereafter, students should submit their documents to KASNEB together with a copy of the bank deposit slip. Students are individually and personally responsible for ensuring that fees are paid to KASNEB. Consequently, students who pay fees through third parties should ensure that such parties are honest and reliable and will therefore remit the fees to KASNEB without delay. Bankers Cheques/Drafts should be drawn payable to KASNEB and Inter-State Money Orders should be payable at City Square Post Office - Nairobi. Examination entry/annual registration renewal forms and remittances which are sent by post should be posted at least one week before the closing date to ensure that they are received in time.

5.       All students who sat for the May 2015 examinations should ENTER for the November 2015 examinations immediately upon confirmation of their May 2015 examination results.

6.       All continuing students of KASNEB are required to update their annual registration renewal position by 1 July of each year. New students are required to note that the registration renewal fee is due on 1 July following the examinations sitting to which they are first eligible to enter.

7.       The late registration closing date for applicants wishing to be registered as students in order to be eligible to enter for the

November 2015 examinations is Friday, 14 August 2015.