Canada's First Nation communities are at the forefront of exciting opportunities to thrive through financial stability and best practices.
The First Nations Financial Management Board or FMB was created to support First Nations as they pursue these opportunities through certification programs that help meet the needs of members lenders and investors.
FMB certification is an optional no-cost service that provides First Nation communities with financial transparency, accountability, credibility, and access to affordable financing.
The process of certification starts with creating a Financial Administration Law and can continue into a Financial Management System Certificate, a Financial Performance Certificate or both, depending on your community's goals.
The first step to any FMB certification is creating a framework of financial best practices called a Financial Administration Law.
To start this process your community must be scheduled to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act.
This step is required since working with the FMB is entirely optional.
Once you're scheduled, a draft Financial Administration Law is developed, usually with the help of your community's independent legal counsel.
The FMB provides a sample law that can be used.
Your draft is then submitted to the FMB for review.
If your Financial Administration Law meets FMB standards, it will be approved, and you can then choose to pursue either a Financial Management System Certificate or a
Financial Performance Certificate.
A Financial Management System Certificate can be obtained once the policies and procedures outlined in your Financial Administration Law have been put into action, and confirms that you have implemented the requirements of your law.
If Financial Management Systems Certification starts with a Financial Readiness Assessment by the FMB's Capacity Development team.
This is followed by a Policy Gap Assessment to identify areas that need additional structure or improvement.
Once any necessary revisions are made, we'll support you as you implement your policies through training, webinars, questionnaires, and other similar tools.
Once the Capacity Development support has been provided, the Standards and Certification team will review and report on the success of your policy implementation through on-site fieldwork and testing.
This independent review will determine if the First Nations policies and its Financial Administration Law are being followed if the results of the testing shows that
the FMB standards have been met, your community will receive its Financial Management System Certification.
If you are interested in borrowing through the First Nations Finance Authority, you can also request a Financial Performance
Certificate from the FMB once a Financial Administration Law has been approved.
This certificate is designed for First Nations who want access to financing by becoming borrowing members of the First Nations Finance Authority.
To receive a Financial Performance Certificate, a First Nation must meet the FMB's Financial Performance Standards.
This begins by providing copies of your community's most recent five years of financial statements.
The FMB will review the financial statements and work with your finance officer to collect some additional information.
The FMB will calculate the Financial Performance Ratios and share the results with you.
If these Financial Ratios are met, a Financial Performance Certificate can be issued.
The purpose of the Financial Performance Certificate is to make the First Nation eligible to borrow from the First Nations Finance Authority.
Borrowing members must commit to achieving FMS Certification within 36 months.