In order to comply with the State Bank of Pakistan requirements, HBL established Internal Control Unit (ICU) independent of operations for assessing and maintaining a sound Internal Control System and to facilitate Internal Audit. I have the following key responsibilities as part of Onsite Review Team in the Department:

Reviewing implementation of defined policies, adherence to laid down procedures and compliance to critical regulatory requirements in day to day branch operations through following key types of reviews:
a. Management Testing Plan (MTP) – Testing of Branch Operations through specialized control sheets and testing sheets as part of COSO ICFR directed by SBP. Breach of laid down controls are reported and uploaded on ICU Portal for monitoring and rectification by relevant stakeholders.
b. Full Review – Independent review is carried out at branches know as independent management review which includes key risk areas at branch e.g. surprise Cash, Vault & ATM check, Account Opening, Operation, Activation, and Closure, Security of Vault and ATM, Premises Security etc. The review consists of sampling from extensive population. The review includes regulatory and operational risk areas of branches.
c. Remediation – The remediation exercise is conducted by enforcing, escalating and closing the key observations identified by Internal Audit Dept., so that appropriate actions are taken to close the audit issues and branch rating could be improved.
d. Thematic Review – End to end processes are reviewed at Branch to ensure they comply with laid down policies and procedures of Bank.
e. Training and awareness to branch staff on key risk areas of branch operations.

State Bank of Pakistan issued the circular in February 2014 on COSO – Internal Controls on Financial Reporting (ICFR) implementation Road Map to Banks/ DFIs. I joined the Habib Metropolitan Bank as Internal Controls Officer and performed the following key tasks for the compliance of the same;
1. DEVELOPED PROCESS FLOWS of Reconciliation Department under finance and ensured delegation of authority and organizational structure are appropriately documented by performing appropriate walk through and regulatory controls are identified.
2. REVIEWED BANK’S RESPECTIVE MANUALS FOR THEIR FINALIZATION AND APPROVAL. This includes the Finance manual, and Islamic Products Manuals.
3. COORDINATION WITH CONTROL/ PROCESS OWNERS: To enable smooth execution of the testing of Controls at Management Level, I arranged meetings with Process Owners/ Divisional Heads to finalize and discuss the Risk Control Matrix and Management Testing Plan to ensure that risk and their related controls are properly documented. Some of the key departments include Financial Institution Division, Credit Division, Risk Management, Credit Administration Department, and Finance Department.
4. LIAISING WITH EXTERNAL AUDITORS: For the finalization of Long Form Report 2016, I conducted meetings with External Auditors to close the observations by discussing the same with relevant departments before the finalization of LFR - Report.
5. Assisted unit head in the development of quarterly status of ICFR report to COSO Steering committee.

State Bank of Pakistan issued the circular in February 2014 on COSO – Internal Controls on Financial Reporting (ICFR) implementation Road Map to Banks/ DFIs. NBP appointed AFF for the implementation of the detailed Business Process Review and SBP COSO – ICFR.

I performed the following Key Tasks on the Project:
• DEVELOPED PROCESS FLOWS of key areas of credit including Corporate, Commercial/ SME Financing, and Consumer Products. This included the documentation of actual activities of the Bank in Visio through walkthroughs at Branch, Region, and Head Office level.
• DEVELOPED CONSUMER PROCESS DIAGNOSTIC REPORTS for identification of significant deficiency/ gaps and recommendation for rectification in Bank’s current practices and structure by bench-marking them with industry best practices, SBP Prudential Regulations, Credit policy Manuals, Standard Procedural Manuals and related instruction circulars of the Bank.
• DEVELOPED LOS & CBA SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC REPORTS of all areas of credit, for the identification of key gaps and recommendations for the rectification thereof; in Bank’s Core Banking Application (CBA) and Loan Origination System (LOS). The Reports were prepared by acquiring the system know-how through walk-throughs, understanding the Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS) Document, Demos, Manuals, Meetings with Information Technology Department (ITD) and System Users, and the Industry Best Practices.

State Bank of Pakistan issued the circular in February 2014 on COSO – Internal Control on Financial Reporting (ICFR) implementation Road Map to Banks/ DFIs. NBP appointed AFF for the implementation of the detailed Business Process Review and SBP COSO – ICFR.
• DEVELOPED REMEDIATION FRAMEWORK, by identifying gaps, action plans and responsibilities were assigned to relevant departments and functions. I discussed and agreed implementation time frame for remediation. Currently, I am working on the implementation of the gaps identified during the Gap Analysis phase. This includes development of Service Level Agreements between Departments, development of Consumer Product Programs, development of To-Be Process Flows. BPR initiatives like establishment of Customer Care Centres, and defining TAT in processes are in consideration. Moreover, system related remediation plan is in progress.
• DEVELOPED RISK CONTROL MATRIX (RCMS) - (Advance Salary and Commercial/SME). Based on Key controls identified in the AS – IS Process Flows, I developed RCMs for Advance Salary and SME/ Commercial Area of advances. Since the requirement relates to COSO - ICFR, RCMs were developed as per the financial statement assertions applicable to each business processes.
• DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF MANAGEMENT TESTING PLANS – Based on RCMs, Management Testing was performed at the key Branches and Regional Offices of the Bank. I trained and assisted the compliance team in the test cases on Consumer Banking and SME/ Commercial Cases, in which various non- compliance of controls were identified at pilot locations.

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) engaged PwC Advisory Team on the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) engagement for assessment, integration, process improvement, and implementation of the Loan Origination System (LOS, Collateral Management System (CMS), and Rating Scoring System (RSS).
The following were my key responsibilities on the Project:
• GAP ANALYSIS PHASE (Customisation of Standard System as per Bank Requirements) - I attended vendor workshops to finalise Logical Design Document (LDD)/ Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS) of the System to customise the lending systems as per Bank policies, procedures and mutually agreed solutions between vendor and the Project Working Group (PWG).
• PERFORMED QUALITY REVIEW OF THE LDD/ FRS by benchmarking it with the Bank’s Credit Policy Manual, Standard Forms and Checklists, Current and Proposed MIS Reports, existing Process Flows (AS-IS), and State Bank’s Prudential Regulations.
• REVIEWED THE DATA DICTIONARY AND THE SCREENSHOTS OF THE SYSTEM for the logical checks, data validation checks, formats and date checks, and mandatory checks to ensure operational and credit risk are minimised in the system.
• DEVELOPED AND TRAINED BANK’S STRATEGIC CHAMPIONS for the development of Test Scenarios, which were used in the System Design and Integration Testing to identify the potential bugs in the System.
• MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS - MIS REPORTs & FORMS & CHECKLISTS. These reports included Stock Report for CAD monitoring, and Front Office Performance Reports. The Forms included Loan Application Forms (LAF), and Credit Memorandum (CM). The Checklists recommended for automation included Business Checklist, Pre-Disbursement checklist and Post disbursement checklists.

After my A-levels, I completed two months internship within finance department of the bank. As a trainee I supported my seniors on proof reading and casting of financial statement disclosures. I also worked with financial analysis team within banks finance department where I learned high-level ratio analysis on balance sheet and PL balances.