Eleven commercial bank employees completed a five-day “Bank Accounting and Financial Reporting” course on October 26, 2007. Organized by the USAID-funded Economic Development and Growth for Enterprises (EDGE) project, the course was designed to enhance the transparency of the banking sector and to improve the ability of commercial banks to produce accurate and timely prudential reports. The course outlined basic accounting principles, including an overview of debits and credits, the accounting cycle, and certain international accounting standards pertinent to the banking industry. Using this information as a base, the course went on to emphasize the importance of accurate financial transaction recordkeeping and reporting, including the economic impact of these records on the financial position of the bank and the safety of the banking sector.

The participants in this course came from eleven different commercial banks. Importantly, this course was designed, developed, and delivered by locally recruited bankers, who had successfully completed the “Training of Trainers” course, also conducted by the EDGE team. This course, consistent with EDGE’s overall activities, was designed to improve the environment in which Turkish Cypriot businesses function, as part of a program to foster a durable economic foundation for the future reunification of Cyprus.