The Challenge
The Central Bank plays a critical role in any small nation’s economy. The primary objectives of the bank are to promote price stability and to ensure that the economy remains healthy. Because of the direct effects the bank’s actions have on smaller economies, the Bank’s position impacts the nation’s overall infrastructure and economic development. With all this in mind, the Bank’s leadership needed to bring its practices in line with the best global standards.
Key parts of this effort included:
- Reviewing its internal auditing processes and Terms of Reference
- Ensuring that its processes abided by international governance standards
- Updating internal auditing processes
- Reviewing and assessing processes and refine as needed
The Bank’s Audit Committees lacked the full, necessary knowledge of good governance best practices, as well as the metrics to measure the committee’s effectiveness and prioritize steps to streamline internal processes and make them more effective.
To address the issue, the Bank’s Governor requested the services of Graham Joscelyne, CEO, of Joscelyne + Associates, to:
- Educate the Committee on good governance practices and how to apply them
- Gather insight on the committee’s overall performance from members
- Determine how best to improve the value of the Board
- Help the Committee learn what questions they should ask themselves to improve their value to the Board as a whole
- Discuss the Terms of Reference and suggest revisions
- Suggest where the Committee’s Terms of Reference should be revised
- Advise the Chair on how to help the Committee perform more effectively
The Solution
To meet the Governor’s needs and address the issues that hindered the committee’s effectiveness, Graham:
- Facilitated discussions and led trainings that introduced the committee to the best practices of world-class financial governance
- Helped the chair establish an overall agenda for committee meetings, discussions, reporting, etc.
- Designed a discussion format that allowed the Committee to discuss existing Terms of References topics in an environment that promoted the free exchange of ideas and proposed solutions
- Facilitated discussions around the Committee’s important annual self-assessment process (what worked, what did not, solutions to addressing issues)
The Impact
The initial work completed by the Committee puts the Bank in a better place than it was before, paving the way for structured improvement that benefits both the Bank and the nation.
Through the educational trainings on governance practices and discussions facilitated by Graham, the committee now has:
- An updated version of its Terms of Reference
- Greater confidence in fulfilling its duties
- A reliable metric by which to assess its accomplishments and improve its functions, and
- A management team that is more informed and equipped to respond to feedback
The committee is committed to continuing the best practices they adopted under Graham’s instruction and aid by monitoring, assessing and improving its processes that impact every aspect of the organization.
