Expand+Individuals seeking admission to the Professional Diploma in SME Credit will:

a) have 3 years’ experience (full time) in a relevant Banking role and have completed the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice or equivalent 30 ECTS Special Purpose ...

Hide-Individuals seeking admission to the Professional Diploma in SME Credit will:

a) have 3 years’ experience (full time) in a relevant Banking role and have completed the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice or equivalent 30 ECTS Special Purpose Award/s at Level 7, or

b) have an Honours degree (min. H2.2, Level 8 NFQ), or

Admission will also be considered from experienced professionals who do not meet the minimum admission requirements as set out above, who can demonstrate learning based on work and training experience e.g. Individuals employed in a Credit role with responsibility for Credit decisions in Financial Services.

Professional Body Membership

You must be a current member of the Institute or become a member, to undertake this programme.

Membership is currently €40 per calendar year.

Expand+Who is this programme for?

This programme is designed to provide students with core credit analytical skills while enabling them to specialise in trading, property, agri and distressed credit.

It is designed to meet the needs of:

•SME relati...

Hide-Who is this programme for?

This programme is designed to provide students with core credit analytical skills while enabling them to specialise in trading, property, agri and distressed credit.

It is designed to meet the needs of:

•SME relationship managers and their lending portfolio support staff

•SME Property specialists

•SME Agri specialists

•Credit underwriters

•Loan administration and credit policy officers

•Accountants, lawyers and other professionals who provide SME advisory services

•Credit review staff who are responsible for ensuring that lending and credit delivery standards are complied with

•Internal audit staff who assess whether the credit management standards are fit for purpose and are being complied with

•Credit portfolio managers who are responsible for identifying and managing excessive credit concentrations in the loan book, forecasting loan losses and estimating provisions

•Marketing staff who design and promote credit products

•Financial control staff with responsibility for budget setting, capital allocation, financial performance evaluation and financial/regulatory reporting.

How you will benefit

The programme is a specialist education programme that offers a unique, independent, university-level qualification.

The programme will equip participants with an analytical framework for identifying and conducting the credit risk assessment of:

•Viable and sustainable trading, property, and agri SME businesses focusing on the principal SME exposure sectors of the banks.

•Fundamentally viable trading SME businesses burdened with an overhang of property-related debt that is non-core to the business.

It will also:

•Introduce the structuring options which are specific to the case studies.

•Enhance the skills of relationship managers and credit analysts in managing credit risks to help mitigate potential loan losses.

•Support the banks’ strategic plans for addressing their SME distressed businesses.

Expand+Curriculum

You study 3 modules. The first 2 modules are pre-requisites meaning they must be studied in advance of the specialist module and then you can specialise in either Property lending or Agri lending or Distressed lending in module 3.

Th...

Hide-Curriculum

You study 3 modules. The first 2 modules are pre-requisites meaning they must be studied in advance of the specialist module and then you can specialise in either Property lending or Agri lending or Distressed lending in module 3.

The programme is designed to provide students with core credit analytical skills while enabling them to specialise in Trading, Property, Agri or Distressed credit.

Pre-requisite modules:

•Principles of Credit Risk (NFQ Level 8, 5 ECTS)

•SME Credit Risk Assessment (NFQ Level 8, 10 ECTS)

Specialist modules (choose 1):

•SME Property Credit Assessment and Financing (NFQ Level 8, 10 ECTS)

•SME Agri Credit Assessment and Financing (NFQ Level 8, 10 ECTS)

•SME Financing and Distressed Credit Analysis (NFQ Level 8, 10 ECTS)

Expand+Assessment

•End of semester examinations.

•The pass mark is 40% in line with UCD academic policy.

For the module Principles of Credit Risk:

•Combination of continuous assessment (multiple choice questions) and written, essay-style questio...

Hide-Assessment

•End of semester examinations.

•The pass mark is 40% in line with UCD academic policy.

For the module Principles of Credit Risk:

•Combination of continuous assessment (multiple choice questions) and written, essay-style questions.

•Exam duration: 120 minutes

For the modules SME Credit Risk Assessment, SME Financing and Distressed Credit Analysis, SME Property Credit Assessment and Financing, and SME Agri Credit Assessment and Financing:

•Combination of continuous assessment (multiple choice questions) and written, essay-style questions.

•Exam duration: 180 minutes