Course Introduction
The Custody and Asset Safekeeping Audit Training Course provides a practical framework for auditing the custody, safekeeping, administration, and protection of financial assets held by banks, investment institutions, pension funds, asset managers, insurers, and other organizations. The course equips participants with techniques for evaluating whether assets are properly held, recorded, protected, reconciled, and serviced throughout their lifecycle.
The course examines the complete custody lifecycle, from asset acquisition and settlement through registration, safekeeping, income collection, corporate actions, transfers, pledges, releases, valuation support, and disposal. Participants learn how to assess custody arrangements, account structures, ownership records, settlement instructions, asset segregation, and controls designed to protect securities and other financial assets from loss, unauthorized use, or misappropriation.
Particular emphasis is placed on verifying asset existence, ownership, completeness, and custody records. Participants examine custodian statements, securities depository records, broker confirmations, investment registers, transaction records, settlement reports, asset registers, income records, and reconciliation statements. The course demonstrates how auditors can use external confirmations, substantive procedures, reconciliations, and analytical techniques to identify discrepancies and assess the reliability of custody information.
The training also addresses risks arising from third-party custodians, sub-custodians, securities settlement systems, nominee arrangements, pooled accounts, asset segregation, liens, pledges, collateral, and cross-border custody structures. Participants learn how to evaluate contractual responsibilities, service-level controls, access rights, reporting arrangements, exception management, and oversight of outsourced custody activities.
Modern custody environments increasingly rely on digital securities platforms, automated settlement, electronic records, APIs, distributed technologies, real-time reporting, automated reconciliation, and data analytics. The course therefore considers cybersecurity, privileged access, system interfaces, data integrity, electronic records, automation, artificial intelligence, operational resilience, and emerging technology risks affecting asset safekeeping.
Through practical exercises and integrated case studies, participants develop the ability to audit custody arrangements from asset acquisition through final disposition. They learn to verify holdings, test settlement and reconciliation controls, review corporate actions and income processing, assess third-party custodians, investigate missing or misallocated assets, evaluate technology controls, and formulate practical recommendations that strengthen asset protection and financial reporting integrity.
Duration
5 days
Who Should Attend
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Internal auditors responsible for custody, investment operations, securities, and asset safeguarding audits.
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External auditors reviewing investment assets, custody arrangements, and financial reporting controls.
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Custody managers responsible for securities safekeeping and asset servicing.
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Investment operations professionals managing settlement, custody, reconciliations, and asset records.
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Asset managers responsible for oversight of custodians and investment holdings.
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Pension fund professionals responsible for safeguarding investment assets and member funds.
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Treasury professionals managing financial assets and custody relationships.
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Risk managers assessing custody, operational, counterparty, liquidity, and asset protection risks.
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Compliance professionals monitoring custody arrangements, asset segregation, and regulatory requirements.
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Finance professionals responsible for investment records, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
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Securities settlement professionals involved in asset transfers, settlement, and depository operations.
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Fraud investigators examining missing assets, unauthorized transfers, custody irregularities, and asset misappropriation.
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Information technology auditors reviewing custody platforms, interfaces, access controls, and electronic records.
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Cybersecurity professionals assessing digital custody, privileged access, and operational resilience risks.
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Investment and banking professionals seeking practical expertise in custody and asset safekeeping auditing.
Course Objectives
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Develop a comprehensive understanding of custody operations, asset safekeeping structures, securities settlement, asset servicing, and related audit risks.
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Evaluate custody governance, contractual arrangements, segregation of duties, custody policies, authorized custodians, and management oversight.
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Audit asset acquisition, settlement, registration, safekeeping, transfer, pledge, release, servicing, and disposal processes.
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Verify asset existence, ownership, rights, completeness, and custody using independent confirmations, depository records, and supporting evidence.
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Evaluate asset segregation arrangements, nominee structures, pooled accounts, sub-custodian relationships, liens, pledges, and restrictions affecting asset rights.
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Reconcile custody statements, securities records, investment registers, transaction systems, settlement accounts, and general ledger balances.
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Audit income collections, corporate actions, securities transfers, maturities, redemptions, and other asset servicing activities.
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Identify fraud and operational risks involving unauthorized transfers, fictitious holdings, missing assets, settlement manipulation, custody errors, and insider activity.
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Assess custody technology, electronic records, system interfaces, cybersecurity, privileged access, automation, data integrity, and emerging digital asset risks.
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Develop evidence-based audit findings and practical recommendations that strengthen asset protection, custody oversight, reconciliation, operational resilience, and financial reporting.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Custody and Asset Safekeeping Audit Fundamentals
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Understanding custody structures, custodians, sub-custodians, depositories, brokers, nominees, and other participants in asset safekeeping.
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Mapping the custody lifecycle from trade settlement and asset registration through safekeeping, servicing, transfer, and disposal.
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Identifying custody, operational, counterparty, legal, fraud, technology, settlement, and financial reporting risks.
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Developing risk-based custody audit plans focused on significant assets, high-risk custodians, complex structures, and critical controls.
Module 2: Custody Governance, Policies, and Control Frameworks
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Evaluating custody policies, governance structures, authorized custodians, contractual arrangements, responsibilities, and management oversight.
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Assessing segregation of duties between investment decisions, trade execution, settlement, custody, accounting, reconciliation, and asset servicing.
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Testing controls over custody instructions, authorized signatories, asset transfers, account changes, and access to sensitive custody information.
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Evaluating custodian oversight, service-level monitoring, exception reporting, escalation procedures, and periodic control assessments.
Module 3: Asset Settlement, Registration, and Ownership Verification
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Auditing securities settlement processes from trade confirmation and instruction through delivery-versus-payment and final asset registration.
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Verifying asset ownership through custodian statements, central securities depository records, issuer registers, broker confirmations, and other independent evidence.
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Testing settlement instructions, transaction dates, settlement dates, asset quantities, counterparties, prices, and account information.
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Investigating failed settlements, unmatched transactions, delayed registrations, partial settlements, and unexplained asset movements.
Module 4: Safekeeping, Asset Segregation, and Physical Controls
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Evaluating segregation of client, institutional, proprietary, and other assets within custody and securities account structures.
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Auditing physical safekeeping arrangements for documents, certificates, title records, or other assets where physical custody remains relevant.
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Assessing controls over asset access, authorization, custody documentation, transfers, releases, pledges, liens, and restricted securities.
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Testing whether custody records accurately identify asset ownership, location, status, restrictions, and responsible custodial parties.
Module 5: Custody Reconciliations and Asset Record Integrity
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Reconciling custody statements with investment registers, portfolio systems, securities depositories, broker records, and accounting ledgers.
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Testing asset quantities, nominal values, ownership information, settlement status, income records, and transaction movements.
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Investigating missing securities, duplicate holdings, unidentified assets, unexplained movements, stale balances, and aged reconciliation differences.
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Evaluating reconciliation frequency, independent review, exception escalation, evidence retention, and resolution of custody discrepancies.
Module 6: Asset Servicing, Income, and Corporate Actions
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Auditing dividend, interest, redemption, maturity, distribution, and other income collection processes administered through custodians.
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Evaluating corporate action processing involving dividends, rights issues, bonus issues, stock splits, mergers, conversions, and other securities events.
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Testing entitlement calculations, election instructions, settlement, accounting, income allocation, and reconciliation of corporate action proceeds.
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Investigating missed entitlements, incorrect allocations, delayed proceeds, duplicate benefits, unprocessed events, and unexplained adjustments.
Module 7: Third-Party Custodians, Sub-Custodians, and Outsourced Activities
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Evaluating due diligence, selection, approval, monitoring, and performance oversight of external custodians and sub-custodians.
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Reviewing custody agreements, service responsibilities, liability provisions, reporting obligations, escalation mechanisms, and asset protection arrangements.
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Assessing risks associated with pooled accounts, nominee structures, cross-border custody, intermediary chains, and outsourced asset servicing.
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Testing management oversight of third-party control reports, audit findings, service exceptions, operational incidents, and remediation activities.
Module 8: Custody Fraud, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Technology Risks
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Identifying fraud risks involving unauthorized asset transfers, fictitious holdings, forged instructions, custody account manipulation, and insider collusion.
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Evaluating authentication, privileged access, electronic approvals, system changes, audit trails, and segregation of duties within custody platforms.
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Assessing cybersecurity risks affecting custody systems, settlement interfaces, APIs, electronic records, digital instructions, and connected service providers.
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Examining automated reconciliation, artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technologies, tokenized assets, digital securities, and other emerging custody technologies.
Module 9: Custody Data Analytics and Continuous Monitoring
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Applying data analytics to identify unusual asset transfers, duplicate holdings, unexpected movements, inactive positions, and reconciliation anomalies.
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Performing population-based testing across custody transactions, asset records, settlement instructions, corporate actions, and income distributions.
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Evaluating data completeness, accuracy, reliability, lineage, and consistency across custody, investment, settlement, and accounting systems.
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Developing exception dashboards, automated reconciliation tests, risk indicators, and continuous monitoring procedures for asset safekeeping assurance.
Module 10: Custody Audit Reporting, Remediation, and Practical Case Studies
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Preparing audit findings that clearly connect custody control deficiencies to evidence, asset exposure, financial consequences, root causes, and operational risks.
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Evaluating case studies involving missing securities, unauthorized transfers, reconciliation failures, custody errors, corporate action discrepancies, and third-party failures.
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Developing corrective actions addressing custody governance, asset segregation, settlement, reconciliation, access controls, cybersecurity, and custodian oversight.
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Performing audit follow-up, remediation validation, escalation, closure assessment, and reporting of significant or recurring custody control deficiencies.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
