Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Credit Risk Review Advisor's Loan File Sampling Playbook

Build a defensible risk-rating challenge process that holds up to OCC examiner walkthroughs and SR 20-13 expectations.

When the examiner asks for your scope memo, sampling rationale, and closed exceptions log, the answer should already be on the shelf, not in your head.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Credit Risk Review at a super-regional bank sits between three audiences with different reading habits. The OCC examiner wants traceable sampling logic against SR 20-13. The Credit Risk Committee wants a one-page rating-migration story with clear conclusions. The lending lines want the rating-grade challenge to be specific enough that they know what to fix. Most review functions can deliver one of those three well, two of them with effort, and the third one becomes the open finding. The workpaper template is usually the weak link, because it was built for a smaller portfolio and was patched cycle after cycle until nobody remembers what each section is supposed to prove. The course rebuilds the chain from scope memo to exceptions log so every artefact carries its own justification, and the Committee report writes itself from the workpapers rather than being rewritten by hand each quarter.

What you walk away with

Scope memos that map every objective to SR 20-13 supervisory expectations and to the bank's risk appetite statement.
A risk-based sampling methodology that defends sample size and stratification across C and I, CRE, and consumer pools.
Workpaper templates that document the rating challenge in a form OCC and PRMIA walkthroughs accept without follow-up requests.
An exceptions log workflow that closes findings against named owners and dated remediations, with quarterly aging.
A Credit Risk Committee report that lands the rating-migration story and the coverage status in one page.

The 12 modules

Module 1. SR 20-13 in practice: what supervisors actually ask for

Walks the SR 20-13 supervisory letter clause by clause and maps each expectation to a concrete artefact in the review file. Covers independence positioning, risk-rating challenge scope, frequency standards, board reporting, and the specific evidence examiners ask for during loan-review walkthroughs. Includes a self-assessment matrix against the supervisory letter and a gap-closure plan template.

Module 2. Building the annual coverage plan around portfolio risk

Constructs a coverage plan that balances scheduled portfolio reviews, target reviews driven by emerging risk, and post-mortem reviews of downgraded credits. Methodology for allocating review hours across C and I, CRE, syndicated, leveraged lending, and consumer pools. Includes the coverage-rationale memo template the Audit Committee expects and the dashboard that shows where coverage gaps are concentrated.

Module 3. Risk-based sampling for commercial portfolios

Statistical and risk-based stratification approaches for C and I and middle-market book sampling. Covers exposure-weighted sampling, downgrade-prone strata, industry-concentration overlays, and how to handle large single-name exposures that distort sampling logic. Includes the sampling rationale workpaper that ties each sampled credit to a tested objective and a worked example on a five billion dollar C and I book.

Module 4. CRE sampling: construction, term, and watch list logic

Sampling approach for the CRE book including construction lending, stabilised income property, and watch-list credits. Covers loan-to-value and debt-service-coverage threshold sampling, sponsor-concentration overlays, market-deterioration triggers, and the property-inspection evidence loop. Includes the CRE-specific workpaper template and a sample size justification memo for a mixed CRE portfolio.

Module 5. The rating-grade challenge workpaper that holds up

The structure of a workpaper that documents an independent risk-rating challenge in a form OCC examiners accept. Covers the rating-grade narrative, financial spread review, qualitative factor assessment, guarantor-support analysis, and the decision tree that takes the reviewer from agree to disagree. Includes the challenge workpaper template, the rating-disagreement memo template, and worked examples for an agree, a partial-disagree, and a full-disagree outcome.

Module 6. Exceptions logging: open, owned, aged, closed

Workflow design for the exceptions log so every finding carries a named owner, a dated remediation commitment, a documented re-test outcome, and an aging report. Covers the difference between exceptions, observations, and recommendations, and how to age findings without losing the institutional memory of why the finding mattered. Includes the exceptions database schema, the aging dashboard, and the closing-memo template.

Module 7. Allowance methodology review touchpoints

How the independent credit review function intersects with CECL allowance methodology validation. Covers segment-level loss-driver review, qualitative-factor reasonableness testing, and the workpapers needed when the review function is asked to opine on rating-driven reserve movements. Includes the allowance touchpoint memo and the CECL-overlay challenge template.

Module 8. Leveraged lending and shared national credits

Review approach for leveraged lending exposures against the interagency leveraged lending guidance, and the SNC examination interplay where the bank holds a participant share. Covers covenant-package review, enterprise-value sensitivity, and the workpaper that documents independent assessment of an agent-rated credit. Includes the SNC reconciliation memo template.

Module 9. Watch list and criticised asset reviews

Independent review of watch list and criticised asset status, including special mention, substandard, doubtful, and loss classifications. Covers downgrade-trigger documentation, status-meeting evidence, and the workflow that ties watch list moves to action plans. Includes the criticised asset review workpaper and the status-meeting evidence template.

Module 10. Quarterly Credit Risk Committee reporting

Building the one-page Credit Risk Committee report that lands the rating-migration story, the coverage status against plan, the open exceptions aging, and the emerging risk themes from the cycle. Covers narrative discipline, exhibit standards, and the supplementary appendix that anticipates Committee questions. Includes the report template, the exhibit pack, and three worked examples across stable, deteriorating, and improving portfolio cycles.

Module 11. Walkthrough preparedness for OCC and PRMIA

Preparing the review function for OCC examiner walkthroughs and PRMIA-style external assessments. Covers the document request list to anticipate, the workpaper navigation protocol, the closed-loop evidence chain from scope memo to exceptions log, and the do-not-say register for sensitive findings. Includes the walkthrough prep checklist and the examiner-question rehearsal pack.

Module 12. Quality assurance over the review function itself

Building the internal QA loop that the review function uses on its own workpapers. Covers peer-review workflow, supervisory review checklist, root-cause analysis for missed findings, and the annual self-assessment that feeds the next coverage plan. Includes the QA workpaper template, the root-cause memo template, and the annual self-assessment report shell.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

OCC examiner asks for the SR 20-13 self-assessment during entry meeting: modules 1 and 11 deliver the artefacts.

Credit Risk Committee challenges the coverage plan as too thin on CRE construction: modules 2 and 4 rebuild the rationale.

Rating-grade disagreement with the line of business escalates: module 5 provides the disagreement memo that holds.

Audit Committee asks why exceptions aged beyond 180 days: module 6 delivers the aging dashboard and closing workflow.

What you get with this course

Twelve text-based modules in the Art of Service learning environment.
Downloadable workpaper templates for every artefact named in the module list.
Worked examples on C and I, CRE, and SNC credits across agree, partial-disagree, and full-disagree outcomes.
The Credit Risk Committee one-page report template plus the supporting exhibit pack.
A hand-built implementation playbook tailored to the portfolio mix and supervisory posture of the buyer's bank.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.

Modules 1 through 6 are designed to be worked through in the first three weeks, covering scope, coverage plan, sampling, and the rating-challenge workpaper.

Modules 7 through 12 in weeks four through six cover the specialised review areas, Committee reporting, walkthrough preparedness, and the QA loop.

Buyers who want to align module work to a specific upcoming review cycle should flag that on purchase so the playbook is sequenced against the cycle dates.

Before and after

Before

Each cycle begins with workpapers patched from the prior cycle, sampling rationale rewritten under deadline, and a Credit Risk Committee report that is rebuilt by hand because the workpaper exhibits do not roll up.

After

Scope memos, sampling rationale, workpapers, exceptions log, and the Committee report all flow from a single template chain where each artefact justifies the next, and the examiner walkthrough rehearses against the same documents the review function used internally.

What happens if you do not address this

An OCC examination cycle that produces an MRA on the credit review function is the slowest finding to close, because remediation requires rebuilding the workpaper standard while continuing to deliver the annual coverage plan. The cost of catching this in remediation is roughly ten times the cost of rebuilding the chain before the examination opens.

Who it is for

Credit Risk Review Advisor or Senior Reviewer at a US super-regional or regional bank, OCC-supervised, covering Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Real Estate, and select consumer pools. Three to fifteen years in credit risk review, internal audit credit, or as a regulator. Carries a portfolio of in-flight reviews, runs at least one annual coverage plan, and prepares Credit Risk Committee material. Reports through CRO or Chief Credit Officer.

Who this is NOT for. Not for first-line credit underwriters writing approval memos. Not for third-line internal audit teams covering enterprise risk broadly. Not for buy-side credit analysts. Built specifically for the second-line independent credit review function inside a US bank.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Approximately 25 to 35 hours of focused work across six weeks. Each module averages two to three hours of reading and one to two hours of template adaptation against the buyer's own portfolio.

Why $199 is the right number

PRMIA and RMA credit-review courses cover principles but stop short of the workpaper templates and the Committee-reporting exhibit pack. The Big Four advisory equivalent of this scope runs six figures and ties the templates to the firm's methodology. This course delivers the templates as editable artefacts the buyer owns and the hand-built playbook that maps each artefact to the buyer's portfolio.

FAQ

Is the course generic or built for my bank?

The twelve modules are common to OCC-supervised second-line credit review functions. The implementation playbook delivered with course access is hand-built for the buyer, mapping the templates against the buyer's portfolio mix and supervisory posture.

Does the course cover non-US regulators?

The scope is OCC and US bank supervisory expectations including SR 20-13, interagency leveraged lending guidance, and CECL touchpoints. Buyers at non-US banks should request a scoping note before purchase.

Can the workpaper templates be adapted to our existing GRC tool?

Yes. Templates are delivered as editable Word, Excel, and PDF artefacts. Adaptation to Archer, ServiceNow IRM, or AuditBoard is covered in the implementation playbook.

What is the refund policy?

30-day refund if the course and playbook do not match the supervisory and portfolio context described at purchase.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.