The Institute of Banking & Finance Cambodia (formely know as CIB) has been set up by The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC), with the assistance from the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF), the Asian Development Bank, and the ASEAN Bankers’ Association in January 2004. The Institute provides skill trainings, accreditations, local certifications, and international-standard ones but locally affordable for ABC’s members who comprise of Cambodia’s commercial banks, specialized banks, and microfinance institutions. To uplift Cambodian’s bankers to international standard, the Institute of Banking and Finance has partnered with globally-recognized institutions, including the International Compliance Association (ICA), UK, the Institute of Chartered Compliance Officers (ICCO), Singapore, the International Cyber Threat Task Force (ICTTF), Moody’s Analytics, USA, HRCI (USA), Chartered Banker Institute (CBI), UK, the London Institute of Banking and Finance (LIBF), UK, and the Fintech Academy Singapore (FTA).

Since its full establishment in 2016, the Institute of Banking and Finance has been providing trainings, local and international certifications to over 40,000 banking professionals in Cambodia. In localizing international best practices for Cambodia banking industry and with support and direction from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), IBF has worked with internationally renewed and local experts and NBC Officials to develop competency for key positions in the Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) to guide their capacity development journeys. These competencies are later turned into textbooks for their reference and to serve as study text for the certifications. Key local certifications include Retail Lending, SME Lending, Compliance Level 1, Regulatory Compliance, Internal Audit Foundation, Fundamental Risk Management, and Responsible Lending.

In 2019, IBF has entered into partnership with one key international university in Cambodia, Paragon International University. The partnership explores integration of IBF’s certification into existing university curriculum in order to provide hands-on knowledge and industry practices to students majoring in Finance and Banking, or other related fields, in order to increase the readiness of the future workforces and their employability in the banking industry. It has been proven that these workforces are highly sought after by the banks and microfinances for their practical skills and knowledge relevant to the industry. At the start of 2023, IBF inked the same collaboration with the National University of Management (NUM) and Panhasastra University of Cambodia (PUC) to ensure their students benefits and future employability in the market.

Build sustainable finance through capacity building

• Improve corporate governance
• Elevate local practices toward international best practices
• Standardize banking practices
• Educate the public about sustainable financing