ACI Dealing Certificate Preparation Course – Amsterdam (Netherlands), 19–23 Jul 2027

Introduction:

The ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course provides rigorous grounding in global treasury markets, foreign exchange execution, interest rate mechanisms, and trading governance. This one-week course prepares front, middle, and operations treasury professionals to master international dealing calculations and market conventions to construct a Treasury Dealing Calculation and Compliance Workbook. Delivered at practitioner depth through a hands-on modelling build, delegates apply the ACI Dealing Certificate New Version Syllabus alongside the FX Global Code developed by the Global Foreign Exchange Committee. Market professionals master the ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course with Blackbird Training Centre to ensure dealing competence.

Course Objectives:

• Distinguish between foreign exchange spot quotations and outright forward point pricing under interest rate parity principles.
• Compare money market yield calculations versus discount rate instruments across varied international day-count conventions.
• Apply pricing formulas for Forward Rate Agreements, short-term interest rate futures, and plain vanilla interest rate swaps.
• Interpret dealing limit structures, settlement workflows, and counterparty credit exposures to mitigate trading floor risks.
• Select appropriate hedging structures using conventional derivatives versus Sharia-compliant treasury alternatives for currency exposures.
• Justify dealing conduct decisions against the FX Global Code, the Money Markets Code, and market abuse reporting rules.

Target Audience:

• Junior foreign exchange dealers responsible for quote pricing who must decide optimal spot and forward bid-ask spreads.
• Money market operators responsible for funding desks who must choose between cash deposits, repo transactions, and commercial paper.
• Treasury sales analysts responsible for client execution who must evaluate broken-date forward pricing and swap point adjustments.
• Middle-office market risk controllers responsible for desk monitoring who must judge daily Value-at-Risk and counterparty limit breaches.
• Treasury operations and settlement officers responsible for transaction processing who must resolve nostro-vostro discrepancies and confirmation mismatches.

Course Outline:

Day 1: Foreign Exchange Pricing Foundations and Currency Markets Context

• Spot Foreign Exchange Mechanics: Determining Quoted Spreads and Cross-Rate Formulations Across Currency Pairs
• FX Outright Forwards vs Spot Transactions: Calculating Forward Points Using Interest Rate Parity Relationships
• Odd-Date Pricing Techniques: Interpolating Broken Dates and Calculating Non-Standard Foreign Exchange Tenors
• Short-End Swap Structures: Managing Overnight, Tom-Next, and Spot-Next Liquidity Requirements Across Desks
• Pegged Currency Regimes: Analysing Fixed-Rate Mechanics and US Dollar Forward Spreads in Treasury Placements

Day 2: Money Market Architecture, Cash Instruments, and Rates Frameworks

• Day-Count Conventions: Converting Money Market Yields Across Actual/360, Actual/365, and 30/360 Standards
• Discount Instruments vs Yield-Bearing Deposits: Evaluating Treasury Bills and Negotiable Certificates of Deposit
• Sale and Repurchase Agreements: Calculating Classic Repo Margins, Haircuts, and Reverse-Repo Cash Flows
• Benchmark Rate Architecture: Implementing Overnight Reference Rates and Interbank Offered Rate Term Conventions
• Sharia-Compliant Treasury Instruments: Structuring Murabaha Placements and Wa'ad Structures for Alternative Liquidity Management

Day 3: FICC Derivatives Applications and Interest Rate Hedging Skills

• Forward Rate Agreements: Calculating Settlement Amounts and Forward Benchmark Borrowing Yields
• FRAs vs Short-Term Interest Rate Futures: Pricing Contract Notional Values and Daily Variation Margins
• Vanilla Interest Rate Swaps: Determining Fixed-to-Floating Cash Flows and Par Swap Rates
• Currency Options Basics: Evaluating Put-Call Parity, Strike Premiums, and Fundamental Moneyness Positions
• Treasury Hedging Portfolios: Combining Futures and Interest Rate Swaps to Immunise Balance Sheet Durations

Day 4: Risk Control Frameworks, Back-Office Operations, and Conduct Standards

• Value-at-Risk Parameters: Quantifying Parametric Exposure Thresholds and Potential Trading Losses
• Counterparty Credit Lines vs Stop-Loss Limits: Enforcing Daylight and Overnight Exposure Boundaries
• Clearing and Settlement Infrastructure: Executing Confirmation Matching and Reconciling Nostro-Vostro Accounts
• The FX Global Code: Applying Execution Ethics and Information Sharing Principles Across Dealing Desks
• Market Misconduct Protocols: Identifying Insider Dealing and Complying with Regulatory Suspicious Transaction Notifications

Day 5: Modelling Build: Treasury Dealing Calculations and Verification Portfolio

• Cross-Rate Model Construction: Building Automated Bid-Ask Spread and Cross-Currency Matrix Worksheets
• Forward Point Model Build: Calculating Interest Rate Parity Differentials and Broken-Date Schedules
• FRA Settlement Calculator vs Swap Cash Flow Models: Formulating Interactive Derivatives Pricing Worksheets
• Trading Limit Verification Model: Simulating Desk Position Monitoring, VaR Exceptions, and Stop-Loss Triggers
• Workbook Integration: Finalising the Treasury Dealing Calculation and Compliance Workbook for Desk Deployment

Skills You Will Gain:

• Spot Cross-Rate Calculation
• Forward Point Interpolation
• Money Market Yield Conversion
• Repo Margin Evaluation
• FRA Settlement Computation
• Interest Rate Swap Pricing
• Trading Limit Monitoring
• Market Conduct Compliance

Why Attend This Course:

• From relying on informal rate approximations to applying exact international interest rate parity and forward point pricing formulas.
• From uncertain day-count yield conversions to executing standardised Actual/360, Actual/365, and 30/360 money market calculations.
• From ambiguous awareness of dealing regulations to implementing strict compliance controls aligned with the FX Global Code.
• From fragmented pricing spreadsheets to building an integrated Treasury Dealing Calculation and Compliance Workbook.

Conclusion:

The ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course provides essential financial engineering and governance expertise required across modern treasury and dealing room operations. This course clarifies the critical operational differences between cash money market instruments and FICC derivatives, yield-to-discount conversion conventions, and voluntary market codes versus mandatory market abuse reporting. Structured specifically for treasury dealers, risk controllers, and operations personnel operating at practitioner depth, this curriculum delivers the exact mathematical methods and compliance discipline needed to price, manage, and settle market transactions accurately.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

What is the ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course?

The ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course is a specialised training programme focused on core financial markets knowledge. It covers foreign exchange pricing, cash money markets, interest rate derivatives, risk controls, and market conduct standards defined in international dealing syllabuses.

What is the difference between foreign exchange outright forwards and FX swaps in the ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course?

Outright forwards involve a single currency exchange at a fixed future date to hedge commercial exposure. FX swaps combine a spot transaction with an offsetting forward transaction to manage short-term liquidity without altering net foreign exchange open position exposure.

Which industry standards are covered in the ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course?

The course adheres strictly to the ACI Dealing Certificate New Version Syllabus, integrating international principles from the FX Global Code, the Money Markets Code, the ACI Model Code, and standard international market day-count calculation conventions.

Is the ACI Dealing Certificate preparation course suitable for a treasury risk analyst?

Yes, this course is well suited for treasury risk analysts. It develops practical competencies in pricing derivatives, monitoring trading limits, evaluating Value-at-Risk models, and auditing front-office transaction data against international market standards and risk limits.