A Masterclass in how to build, develop, manage and operate a project lending unit within a financial institution.

The 5-day agenda includes:

Project Finance Refresher 

• Definitions & basic principles
• Suitable Lending policies
• Suitable projects
• Syndication
• Participation
• Risk/reward
• Extra-Curricular benefits
• Strategic/policy implications 

The Objectives of Project Appraisal 

• Key issues – budget, timing and sustainability issues
• Suitability
• The importance of independent scrutiny
• What are they expected to achieve
• What impact do they make on the project
• How much detail
• Skills needed to complete appraisals
• The “gateway” process 

Establishing the Objectives of the Project 

• Are they clear, realistic & achievable?
• Project champions. Help or hindrance?
• Vision & consistency
• The challenge of multiple stakeholders
• Conflicting interests and aspirations
• How critical is the business case
• The importance of technical and market feasibility studies
• Dependencies on other projects.      

Governance & Management of the Project  

• Appropriate structures.
• Management teams and differing styles
• Management procedures & policies – testing and validation
• The challenge of unfamiliar projects
• How to measure management capability and experience
• Quality assurance
• Health & safety
• Personnel and environment protection policies
• Regulatory considerations; local, national and global

 Site/Location Conditions

• Suitability
• Control of the site
• Physical & legal constraints
• What should we be testing
• Site reports and what they tell us
• Conditional, joint or hybrid ownership structures
• Listed building and similar constraints
• Dealing with legal rights including “ransom” strips
• Impact on neighbouring sites of project and vice versa 

Design & Engineering 

• What is a design brief
• Stages of design and engineering
• Deliverables
• The design team procurement process
• Tracking design development
• Design co-ordination
• The impact of new technologies
• Costs versus budget & progress
• Dealing with unresolved design issues
• Deal breakers

Statutory Considerations – Consents & Consultations 

• Have planning and other statutory consents been granted
• The role of other statutory bodies, trade & consumer organisations
• Normal consents required at each stage
• Procuring consents
• Exceptional consents and their procurement
• Tracking consents and managing conditions and/or rejections
• Consultation process
• Stakeholders, advisory groups and affected parties 

Project Costs 

• Quality and accuracy of estimates
• What is a cost plan; preparation and limitations
• Provisional sums, allowances & contingencies
• Dealing with exclusions
• The goal of cost certainty
• Value engineering
• Factors affecting likely outturn costs
• When to walk away 

Procurement Strategy

• Common methods
• Best practice
• Implications of each procurement method
• How are contractors/development partners selected
• Main contractor route versus individual piecemeal tendering
• Difference between input and output specifications 

Programme 

• Is the programme realistic
• Development programmes – identifying critical events
• Efficiency & minimising lapsed time
• Monitoring delivery and ensuring targets are met
• Dealing with inefficiency & missed targets
• Consequences of timing changes – delay or acceleration 

Risks

• What are the most common risks
• Conducting risk workshops
• Risk assessment during development
• Risk measurement
• Risk registers
• Dealing with risks not measured or disregarded by the project
• Development risks – delays & cost overruns
• Risk protection
• Risk transfer

Viability & Sustainability 

• Economic, environmental & social considerations
• Does the engineering and design deliver the objectives
• Maintenance programmes
• Validating assumptions, financial projections & sensitivity analysis
• Relevance of the supply chain and CSR
• Projected outcome versus actual
• Protecting the project physically
• Recovery measures for accidents, emergencies, disasters  

Funding 

• Cashflow before, during and after completion
• Equity or quasi equity investment
• Debt versus equity
• Co-funding & contingent agreements
• Covering funding shortfalls
• Appropriate debt structure and terms
• Managing exposure and maximising security
• Dealing with problems
• When to cut losses and foreclose 

Monitoring Projects 

• General principles
• Project mangers versus project monitors
• The role of monitoring reports
• Operational challenges
• The importance of cross party communication
• Resolving disagreements
• Cost effectiveness
• Managing more than one monitor
• Insurance especially PI 

Monitoring Design & Procurement 

• General principles
• Setting a monitoring programme related to risk profile
• Specific instructions
• Recommendations on specific aspects
• Monitors comments and recommendations on information submitted
• Site inspections
• Monitoring external factors to construction
• Format of monitors reports
• Warning signs.
• How to react when things go wrong 

Construction 

• Format of monitors reports
• Are pre & post -contract changes justified
• Have they been costed and properly authorised
• Is detailed development & construction in line with the programme
• Materials used and construction standards – do they measure up to the plan
• Monitors comments on variations
• Site inspections
• Complying with statutory, environment and quality assurance standards
• Warning signs & how to react when things go wrong  

Practical Completion 

• What does this actually mean
• Key information required
• Essential information for monitors
• Role of monitors during commissioning
• Comments & recommendations on delays 

Delivery & Handover & Post Delivery Considerations 

• What does this actually mean
• The role of monitors during this process
• Has the project been signed off by all the external and internal monitors
• Are the statutory and regulatory loose ends cleared
• Dealing with handovers when monitors advise against
• Warranty and retention and other post delivery arrangements
• Dealing with disputes
• Learning lessons

 Management Systems 

• Bringing it all together
• Monitoring systems
• Establishing internal systems and reporting chains
• Communication
• Responsibilities
• Governance
• Debt servicing & Repayment
• Recording & communicating lessons learned 

Summary Discussion, Q&A 

END

Delegates will obtain a full, detailed and above all, practical appreciation of the challenges facing the project finance team to and will be able to apply expertly a mixture of hands on skills by the finish of the course, awarded with a Certificate in Project Finance for Banks and Financial Institutions Masterclass, including:

• Project finance refresher
• The objectives of project appraisal
• Establishing the objectives of the project
• Governance & Management of the project
• Site, environment, location conditions
• Design and engineering
• Statutory considerations – planning, consents & consultations
• Project costs and their appraisal
• Procurement strategy
• Timetables & Programmes
• Risks
• Viability & sustainability
• Funding requirements
• Monitoring projects – general principles
• Monitoring the development of design & procurement
• Monitoring construction
• Practical completion
• Delivery & Handover
• Post-delivery considerations
• What goes wrong and how to spot and prevent it
• Management systems

Highly interactive expert-led intensive presentation, Q&A, group real-time in-depth case studies, regulation and discussion supported by key principles and theory. The virtual learning platform uses safe, industry preferred encrypted Cisco WebEx to optimize live face-to-face visual interaction, discrete chat, for polling and quizzes.

(An invitation via email with access link is included for all participants.)