CFI CBCA Certificate

Corporate Finance Institute®
Course Objectives
Discuss what a commercial bank does Look at different roles in commercial
banking
Provide guidance and insight around
some potential career paths
Help you identify the best possible
role-fits based on experience, technical
skills, and personality types
Make sure you better understand how
the different roles work – and work
together – in order to help you prepare
for the commercial banking recruiting
and interview process

The Banking Spectrum
Mid-size and less
complex large
companies
Commercial
Business
Small business
owners
Large companies
with more complex
needs
Corporate
<$5MM Revenue
<$2MM Borrowing
Owner-Operated
Simple Credit Structures
$100MM+ Revenue
$50MM+ Senior Borrowing
Publicly traded
Complex Credit Structures
Focus of this course

The Banking Spectrum
Lenders and businesses usually have a borrowing relationship supported by a team of qualified credit
professionals.
Qualified Lending
Professionals
This course will teach you how to support these mid-market clients
while setting you up for a career in this field.
Mid-Market Companies

Industry Focus
There are countless types of businesses that may seek commercial borrowing from their financial institution.
Agricultural
Enterprises
Technology
Companies
Manufacturer Wholesaler
Retailer Restaurants
Professional
Services Firms
Medical
Professionals

Industry Focus
Financial
Institution Specialist B
Financial institutions will often have specialist teams, also known as ‘specialist desks,’ dedicated to covering
one particular industry.
Geographic realities create a more concentrated client portfolio at a financial institution. For example, if the
bank is located in an oil-rich region, it is possible the credit portfolio has a heavy concentration of borrowers in the
petroleum supply chain.
Specialist A

Industry Focus
Diversified Portfolios
Requires expertise in many industries

Types of Borrowing
Commercial borrowers usually have multiple loans called credit facilities. These can be broadly categorized into
operating credit and term financing.
Operating Credit Term Financing
Supports day-to-day
operations
Includes overdraft facilities
& operating lines of credit
Specialized short-term
credit: PO financing, A/R
factoring
Acquisition of longer-term
assets
Execution of longer-term
initiatives
Acquisition of another
business or division

Types of Borrowing
Commercial borrowers usually have multiple loans called credit facilities. These can be broadly categorized into
operating credit and term financing.
Operating Credit Term Financing
Supports day-to-day
operations
Includes overdraft facilities
& operating lines of credit
Specialized short-term
credit: PO financing, A/R
factoring
Term Loans
Capital Leases
Commercial Mortgages

1 2 3
The Purpose of a Commercial Bank
The purpose of a commercial bank is to serve three functions:
Hold Money
• Checking or savings
accounts
• Term deposit or money
market funds
• Supports corporations
with treasury functions
Move Money
• Facilitates movement
of funds through
centralized clearing
houses
• Checks, EFTs, Wire
payments
• Online payments and
credit cards
Lend Money
• Interest income is a
major driver of revenue
• Once a borrower has
multiple credit facilities,
it is less likely they will
leave for another bank

The Purpose of a Commercial Bank
Commercial Banking & Credit
Analyst Program (CBCA)
Analyzing credit risk and underwriting commercial credit facilities are the most important skills that a
commercial banker must master.

Learning Roadmap
There are 7 main roles in commercial banking.
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Relationship Manager
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

Learning Roadmap
The remainder of the course will cover the following for each job title.
Duties and function of
the role
Skillset and
personality suited to
the position
A day in the life for
each position
This information will be helpful in mapping out a prospective career path in commercial banking and
will prepare you for the recruiting and interview process.

Commercial Banking Process
Using a commercial loan request as a simple example, let’s plot where each role fits in the process.
VP Commercial
Proposal
Relationship
Team
Relationship
Manager
Credit Associate
Credit Analyst
Client
Risk Management
group
Client
Adjudicator
Legal counsel
produces
paperwork
Back and
forth

Commercial Banking Process
Proposal
Relationship
Team
Client Client
Adjudicator
If, in the future, the loan somehow went bad, the client may be transitioned to the bank’s “workout group” to
renegotiate terms or to collect on the collateral security.
Workout Group
Responsible for renegotiations in the
case where a loan goes bad

The Relationship Team
Commercial banking can be confusing because job titles may vary by institution or geographic norms compared
to other roles in financial services.
Investment
Banking Analyst
Trader Financial Advisor
Same in Most Parts of the World
Account
Manager
Relationship
Manager
Loan Officer
Differs Depending on Market
Commercial
Banking:

The Relationship Team
Throughout this course, we will provide a list of the different titles you may hear, but the description and the
duties of each role will generally align.
The relationship team is the front
office of the financial institution.
1
The relationship team is responsible for
understanding their client’s needs as well as
understanding and communicating bank
guidelines and policies to the client’s finance team.
2
They are under constant pressure to deliver strong
growth and financial results. This requires sales,
service, negotiation, and communication skills
while being experts at underwriting credit.

Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

Develop new relationships and find business:
• Cold calls or networking with industry groups.
• Building a referral network including lawyers,
accountants, or brokers to funnel opportunities
directly to the RM.
• Senior Relationship Manager
While the job has many perks, it is extraordinarily challenging and may feel thankless at times.
Maintain and build existing relationships:
• Extend further credit or support
• Optimize cash collections and disbursements
• Complimentary service offerings
Assigned a book of
commercial clients
Responsible for
growth

There are many skills required to be a successful relationship manager.
Strong credit
acumen – Identify
creative solutions
for clients
1
3- 5 years of
experience in
supporting
commercial roles
2
Terrific negotiation
skills and is great
with people
3
Juggling multiple
tasks at once is
imperative
4
Senior portfolios with complex borrowers may have between 20 – 40 clients, whereas less tenured RM’s may
have 60 or more smaller clients.
RM’s from different firms may be hired by competitors willing to pay for their experience and business contacts.

A Day in the Life – Relationship Manager
• Take clients out to lunch to thank
them for their business and uncover
new opportunities
• Dine with influencers – like
accountants and lawyers – to
generate new business
• Check up on equipment and
projects that are being financed by
the bank
• Networking events or seminars
• Sporting events or activities
• Due to timing lags between cash
outflows and inflows, it is common
for RMs to see multiple client
overdrafts
• If the overdraft is large enough,
the adjudication team is asked for
input
• RM needs to inform the client if
the bank is willing to approve the
overdraft
Morning
Overdraft Report
Non-funding
Days
Off-site
Engagements

Associate
A credit associate is a less glamorous role than the RM, frequently held by less tenured banking professionals.
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

Associate
The biggest part of this role is staying on top of client requests and being proactive to get ahead of them.
Facilitating large
payments for the
client’s accounting
team
1
Ordering cheques
and resolving
credit card
problems
2
Client’s first point
of contact for
day-to-day matters
3
Responsible for
onboarding new
clients
4
A good associate is extremely patient and proactive and usually a great listener.
They have strong sales acumen but lack the institutional knowledge and credit experience required to work as
a relationship manager. It is likely that successful candidates are more extroverted.

Associate
To be successful in an associate role at a commercial bank, candidates need to be able to multi-task and
manage their time effectively.
Juggle multiple tasks
at once
Learn how to prioritize
tasks according to their
relative importance
Make each client feel
like they’re the bank’s
top priority
New candidates for associate roles are generally junior but not straight out of school. Since there’s a lot of client
interaction, a bit of client-facing experience generally helps a lot.
Most financial institutions expect a 2–3-year commitment in this type of role before considering the candidate for a
promotion.

A Day in the Life – Associate
• Rate Changes on term deposits or
material movements in foreign
exchange rates
• Technological developments or
bugs with existing systems that
affect clients
• New product or service offerings
that the bank is rolling out
• May schedule client pricing reviews
• Getting signatures on documents
• Dropping off client cards
• Other administrative tasks while
the Relationship Manager is tied up
• Mornings are heavy on email and
phone calls
• May have to take and triage calls
on behalf of the Relationship
Manager
• Get profiles and accounts set up
for new clients, to ensure credit
facilities advance smoothly
Email and
Phone calls
Market
Intelligence
Time on the
Road

Credit Analyst
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

Credit Analyst
There are two main functions of a credit analyst at a commercial bank.
Work with existing clients
to gather reporting to
monitor covenants
Support the structuring process
for new clients, and
transactions for existing clients
Every financial institution has a list of policies and guidelines for certain credit facilities.
When the relationship team meets with a prospective client, it is important that the analyst prepares by reviewing
industry-specific policies and guidelines.

Credit Analyst
When the relationship team is structuring a deal for the adjudication group, the analyst will do a lot of the
detailed work.
Analyst’s responsibilities may include:
• Understanding how the valuation was derived
• Corroborating data and comparables
• Identifying any property-specific risks
An analyst will become fluent in the deal in order to help the relationship team.

Credit Analyst
A credit analyst typically has a good understanding of accounting principles and strong financial acumen.
Commonly working towards accreditation of some kind, like a CBCA or FMVA.
A strong grasp
of the economy
Reflective,
knowledgeable,
and curious
An eye for
detail
Credit Analyst

Credit Analyst
• Junior staff with great technical
skills
• Want to learn the bank’s systems
and processes
• Fresh out of business school, or
with some finance experience
There are generally two types of people that seek a role as a credit analyst.
• Tenured commercial banking
professionals
• Lots of experience in analyzing
and structuring deals
• Do not want the lifestyle and sales
targets tied to being an RM

A Day in the Life – Credit Analyst
• Growth tends to be a major focus
for financial institutions
Annual Reviews:
• A credit analyst may be
overwhelmed with annual reviews
• Dec 31st fiscal year-end
• Annual Reviews and renewals are
prioritized from March to June
• Seasonal fluctuations
• Conduct site visits and sit in on
client due diligence discussions
• New money transactions are very
exciting
• Ensure compliance with local
regulatory bodies
• Transactions sitting with the
adjudication team
• Time on the phone sorting through
specific questions or concerns
Growth and
Annual Reviews
Travel Locally with
Relationship Team
Status of Current
and Pending Deals

VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

VP Commercial
It is an extraordinarily high-pressure position.
Oversee the onboarding of new team members and support everyone's career aspirations
within the organization.
The sum of all the RMs’ books makes up a portfolio of business for which the VP is
responsible for achieving loan growth and revenue targets.
A VP commercial, or director, is the individual that leads the relationship team.
Ultimate authority
over pricing
exceptions
Support especially
challenging
negotiations
May have up to a
dozen RM’s that
report to them

VP Commercial
Most VPs have a minimum of 8-10 years of experience in the field, working their way up through other roles.
Successful VPs are leaders,
teachers, and mentors
first
1
Proven in a variety of
other commercial banking
roles to have attained
knowledge and expertise
4
Strong credit skills and
financial acumen to navigate
challenging client relationships
2
Extremely organized,
understand the bank
more holistically
3

A Day in the Life – VP Commercial
• Leverage long-time community
relationships to generate
partnerships or referral business
• Advisory work with local business
organizations
• Network with senior executives
from other divisions of the bank
• Spend time keeping up with
community initiatives
• Conduct site visits in the field with
the relationship team
• Sponsor events to thank big clients
and generate goodwill with prospects
• Progress updates with team
members at least bi-weekly
• Follow along with progress on
different transactions
Time with the
Relationship Team
Time in Meetings
Business Development
Initiatives

The Middle and Back Office
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator
Risk Management
Function

If loan growth is the main objective of the relationship team, the middle office's main purpose is to mitigate
loan loss.
The Middle and Back Office
The natural push/pull relationship ensures financial institutions do not take on too much risk.
While there are a huge number of back-office functions, we’re focusing on loan fulfillment.

Workout Banker
A financial institution’s “workout group” may be called “special assets” or “special accounts.”
Workout Group
Responsible for renegotiations in the case
where a loan goes bad
When the risk of default is high, a file will be pulled from the field and sent to the workout group for a more
hands-on approach, with the end goal being an alternative repayment strategy to cover the full debt.

Workout Banker
The role of a workout banker is to approach situations carefully, respecting how difficult and stressful it is for the
owners and the management team.
With the exception of fraud cases, it’s usually in both parties’
best interest to work it out because the alternative is to collect
on the bank’s security.
1 2
Selling assets means
the business is likely
finished
The bank may have to
write off some of its
principal

Workout Banker
The key to being a good workout banker is knowing when to forebear and restructure and when to cut the
bank’s losses.
Strong financial acumen
including modeling and
accounting skills
Most workout bankers have considerable experience in other roles and often have legal or operations
backgrounds.
Considerable patience and
people skills to ensure
everyone remains objective
Understanding of the
legal process that goes
into a liquidation scenario

A Day in the Life – Workout Banker
• Responsible for daily or weekly
updates with their leadership team
• Due to the amount of outstanding
principal, regular reporting and
updates are critical
• With distressed borrowers, every
piece of communication must be
clearly documented
• Ensure the legal enforceability of all
agreements
• Clients at this stage are far more
likely to end up in court than clients
with performing credit facilities
• Mornings spent on the phone
with clients, legal teams, and the
lender’s legal counsel
• Monitor developments that
change the risk picture
• Leveraging their network to find
alternative financing structures to
help clients and reduce the bank’s
exposure
Documentation
and Tracking
On the Phone with
Clients
Time in Meetings

Credit Adjudicator
Risk Management
Function
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator

Credit Adjudicator
Tasked with answering the question: Does this transaction represent a sensible level of risk for the financial
institution?
A credit adjudicator, or risk manager, has the final say in whether a transaction is approved or declined.
Review all due diligence material
and the analysis provided by the
relationship team
1
Risk Appetite
Must ensure that sufficient
evidence is provided to support
adjustments and value calculations
2
Regulation
The adjudication team is typically divided up by industry specialization, or by deal size – or both if the firm is
large enough.

Credit Adjudicator
Adjudicators are absolute experts in credit and have a strong understanding of “ the 5 Cs of credit .“
Proficient with general
financial acumen and
modeling
Patient, deliberate,
and detail-oriented
At least 5 years of
credit experience with
the firm
Extroverts may struggle with this type of role, even if they have sufficient credit acumen to do the job well, as
there is very little external interaction for an adjudicator.
Collateral
Character Capacity Capital Conditions

A Day in the Life – Credit Adjudicator
The adjudicator role is not for everyone. After a big transaction gets approved, the risk manager closes that file
only to pick up the next in the queue.
• Print off relevant files, including
operating statements, financial
analysis, and supporting documents
• Cross reference the application
with the supporting due diligence
items
• The process is long and
challenging, particularly when
there is a lot of back and forth
• This break in flow presents many
challenges and affects the client
experience
• CFI’s CBCA Program is designed to
ensure analysts have the tools to
execute thoroughly and efficiently
• Target number of deals to review
each day
• As few as 2 per day if they’re
working on large transactions
• As many as 7-8 per day if they are
working with small-business-sized
borrowers
Review Credit
Transactions
Transaction
Review Process
Client
Experience

Fulfillment Officer
Workout Banker
Middle Office
Fulfillment Officer
Back Office
Relationship Team
Credit Analyst
Credit Associate
VP Commercial
Workout Banker
Adjudicator
The title “fulfillment officer” is a term for those who produce documents and advance credit transactions.
Credit Administrator

Fulfillment Officer
The process can vary depending on the nature of the client and the specifics of the transaction.
Work in conjunction with the bank’s counsel to produce security agreements for the relationship team.
Ensure that all documents are in order prior to advancing funds, then advance according to specific instructions.
A single fulfillment officer may oversee the advance of tens of millions of dollars in credit in a single day.
Existing Client New Borrower

Fulfillment Officer
These back-office roles typically do not require advanced credit analysis skills.
Strong understanding of
collateral security
While these types of roles are not glamourous, they are a great way to get into financial services and see how a
large commercial bank operates.
Relatively junior in their
career, looking to move
into an associate role
Must be well organized
to keep transactions
funding on time

A Day in the Life - Fulfillment Officer
The back office will frequently run multiple shifts in order to accommodate a full business day across multiple
time zones.
Transaction closings
must occur on
schedule
May spend their entire
workday coordinating
the day’s advances
Fulfillment positions do not provide a lot of flexibility around work hours, especially in comparison to a
relationship manager.

Career Overlap
Commercial banking is an attractive area to build a career because it is an integral part of many financial
institutions’ enterprise growth strategies.
Commercial Banking
Retail Banking
Wealth Management
Capital Markets &
Investment Banking

Career Overlap
In some ways, commercial banking sort of sits in the middle of the other three, if you consider it strategically.
Business Owners and
executives are the exact
target market of most
financial institutions’
wealth management and
private banking groups
1
Employees that work at a
commercial borrower's
place of business are
retail prospects for their
banking needs.
2
Commercial borrowers
can also generate great
opportunities for a banks
capital markets and
investment banking teams
3
Commercial banking is a terrific place to make a career in financial services, with great opportunities for exposure
to interesting businesses and their brilliant management teams.

Other Career Paths
There are a number of other interesting career opportunities for seasoned lending professionals with strong
credit acumen.
The opportunities that a strong background in commercial banking and credit can offer you in the world of
financial services are abundant.
Asset-based
Lending
Subordinated
Debt Funds
Equipment
Finance Firms
Tech Lending like
Venture Debt
Fintech
Private Real
Estate Lending

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