BAIPHIL strides ahead to build banking competencies, strengthen governance and promote productivity
“Everything we do in BAIPHIL is geared towards creating value for the banking industry’s human capital, through training and development,” states Dom Gavino, Jr., chief administrative officer of ING Bank NV, and President of the Bankers Institute of the Philippines (BAIPHIL) for 2018–2019. He leads a team of ranking officers from various member banks who, in May last year, assumed places on the Board to map out the directions and strategies, and oversee the implementation of BAIPHIL’s programs and projects. “The going has been both thrilling and taxing, but we are on track thus far,” he adds.
“We have accomplished many of what we set out to do for this fiscal year and we’re still running full steam to do more,” says BAIPHIL FVP Blesilda Andres, who also heads the Regulatory Compliance Department of the Bank of the Philippine Islands. “These are unique times—there are new demands for new competencies given the ever-changing business environment, not to mention the need to continuously sharpen the skills requirements for the current spectrum of banking positions.”
The data on the dashboard bear out the BAIPHIL leadership’s enthusiasm—over 60 programs ran from July 2018 to date, with a total participation count of about 3,000— indicating a high level of responsiveness of the training offerings to the needs of the banking workforce.
“Most of our training activities have been in the area of ‘Governance, Legal and Compliance,’ with 23 program runs, followed closely by ‘Products, Branch Operations and Management’ with 20 runs,” notes Andres. These have also been BAIPHIL’s mostattended programs. The learning needs are clearly more urgent in these areas, particularly as members seek to be wellinformed and abreast of regulatory directions and requirements in various aspects of banking operations.
“Of course, we cannot overlook our need to build competencies in finance and audit, risk management and information technology, particularly security, so we had a number of offerings in these areas,” points out Dom. “And yes, we take pride in the fact that we were able to offer a number of leadership and supervision programs. This is a relatively new direction for us. It makes our training menu more responsive and holistic.”
Significantly, evaluation results of the programs conducted last year consistently showed positive responses from participants, on the various aspects of the training they attended. All of the programs were rated favourably, most of them scoring high averages in the bracket between Very Satisfactory (4) and Excellent (5). Evaluation is a critical part of the training process, designed to identify concerns and facilitate continual improvement.
BAIPHIL kept up the pace as the New Year rolled in. Among other programs, it successfully mounted the first two courses, Beginner and Intermediate, of the three-level Trade Finance Academy (TFA), designed to strengthen a bank’s trade finance team. International trade operations consultant Thomas Wong facilitated the courses. He is set to conduct the Advance and Expert module of the TFA in April.
Expanding internal capacity
Continuing the efforts of past leadership teams, BAIPHIL finally obtained from the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), approval of three finance courses it can now offer as a training provider for Continuing Professional Development Programs (CPD). Accountants in banks, as well as in other institutions, may now go to BAIPHIL programs to complete their required CPD hours. BAIPHIL was accredited by PRC as a CPD provider in 2017.
Agribusiness Rural Bank, Inc. AllBank (A Thrift Bank), Inc. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Asia United Bank BancNet, Inc. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Bank of America, N.A. Bank of China Bank of Commerce Bank of Makati Bank of the Philippine Islands BDO Unibank, Inc. BNP Paribas Camalig Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank) CARD Bank, Inc. CARD SME Bank, Inc. Century Savings Bank Corp. China Banking Corp. China Bank Savings, Inc. Citibank, N.A. Citystate Savings Bank, Inc. CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp. Deutsche Bank Development Bank of the Philippines East West Banking Corp. Equicom Savings Bank GM Bank of Luzon, Inc. (A Rural Bank) Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. ING Bank N.V., Manila Branch JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. Land Bank of the Philippines Maybank Philippines, Inc. MEGA International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. MUFG Bank, Ltd. Northpoint Development Bank Overseas Filipino Bank, Inc. (A Savings Bank of Land Bank) Philippine Bank of Communications Philippine Business Bank Philippine Clearing House Corp. Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. Philippine National Bank PNB Savings Bank Philippine Resources Savings Banking Corp. Philippine Savings Bank Philippine Trust Co. Philippine Veterans Bank Producers Savings Bank Corp. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. RCBC Savings Bank Rizal Bank, Inc., A Microfinance-oriented Rural Bank Robinsons Bank Corp. Security Bank Corp. Standard Chartered Bank Sterling Bank of Asia, Inc. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. – Manila Branch Union Bank of the Philippines United Coconut Planters Bank UCPB Savings Bank United Overseas Bank Ltd. – Manila Branch Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.