Association of Banks and USAID conduct a workshop on Evaluation of SME Loan Applications

The workshop is convening at the ABJ headquarters and is attended by credit officers and managers from Jordanian banks and financial institutions, USAID officials and interested professionals.

The Evaluation of SME Loan Application comes as a continuation of an initial workshop on Credit Process that was held late last year in cooperation with the SABEQ Program. This workshop will explore loan application screening, major credit risks, ways to underwrite against major risks and pricing methodology. Participants will also discuss the loan approval process, appropriate loan structure, reliable documentation and fair credit rejection.

The workshop will further enable participants to share knowledge of underwriting practices and compare it to similar practices. The participants will gain insight on how to improve underwriting processes.

In his opening speech, Dr Adli Kandah, Director General of the Association of Banks, said that the Association of Banks and the USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) have provided several workshops and learning opportunities to Jordanian banks to explore the latest trends and challenges facing the local and global financial world, also he stressed the importance of this workshop, hoping that this workshop will have an added value to the Jordanian banking sector.

The Workshop will be conducted by Mr. Kevin O'Brien, a financial specialist from Bearing Point Inc. Mr. O'Brien has 25 years of combined experience in trade financing, commercial banking and financial consulting.

"Banks worldwide continue to search for ways of making the credit process less costly and more client friendly, without sacrificing credit quality. ABJ workshops present an excellent opportunity for bankers to learn from each other,"

Mr O'brien said.

The USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (Sabeq) is a five year broad economic development initiative implemented by Bearing Point, Inc. and includes a sizeable team of international and Jordanian partner firms. By both supporting improvements in the business environment and providing assistance to expand innovation and productivity in Jordanian businesses, SABEQ supports the main objective of building up the private sector as a powerful engine of economic growth.