It’s all about strategy: Cultivate a credit risk management strategy in 2022

Risks are part and parcel of any institution because a business cannot grow without taking risks. A business entity has to take the calculative risk to expand. But taking risk is different, and managing it is entirely different. Effective risk management is a comprehensive and detailed view of risk across organizational decisions.

A risk management program creates transparency and understanding of risks while identifying the risk management framework. Therefore, through the CRU program at Imarticus, we teach to identify, manage and monitor organizational risks, whether internal or external risks. This program facilitates you to achieve your strategic goals and the organization’s objective by maintaining its financial growth and stability.

Credit Risk Management Courses

When a borrower takes a loan from any institution, there are the chances of repaying the debtor being a defaulter. Credit risk is the loss probability of the borrower. While developing an understanding and the relation between the bank’s capital and loan loss, the reserve is defined as credit risk management.

There is a promising and lucrative career in credit risk management. With the CRU program at Imarticus, you will learn to focus on a specific area of finance. This course will teach you to develop a strategy to manage risk because risk affects investment decisions. You will learn to quantify risk and become a credit risk analyst

The course in credit risk management teaches you to look at all the variables involved in the strategy and the risk involved therein. After becoming a credit risk analyst, you will perform various analytical techniques for evaluating the risk involved in lending and another business risk. You will learn to produce reports and recommend business entities about the best course of action, like credit limit and interest rate. The report by the credit risk analyst and his recommendation will help the business entity to give the borrowers the best credit options, which are also in the good interest of the lender.

Some credit risk analysts also have the power to make the final decision to approve or decline credit to the applicants. In most cases, this power vests with the financial managers or the loan committee members.

Credit Analyst course

After completing the CRU program at Imarticus, you will become a credit risk analyst. A credit risk analyst evaluates the creditworthiness of the new applicants and simultaneously examines the creditworthiness of the existing debtor. The analyst monitors the debtors’ ongoing financial performance and works in direct contact with the consumers for collecting necessary information. Also, the analyst may coordinate with retail sales agents or even with the credit officers.

At Imarticus, we help you explore various analytical techniques to evaluate the risk involved in lending or extending credit. For this, you will have to assess the financial statements, credit or job history, and payment report. You will also study the operation of the business, the local market, the other markets in which the business operates, and the competitiveness the business is facing.

Trends and risks in credit underwriting standards of financial institutions in India

Underwriting standards are norms created to ensure that loans are given and managed in a safe and secure manner.

Underwriting standards help to define parameters for how much debt a person may be provided, the terms of the loans, how much debt a specific corporation is willing to issue, and what interest rates will be paid. 

The decision to change a financial institution’s lending conditions and underwriting requirements is normally taken by the board of directors and senior management. Alternatively, how rules and processes are actually used in practice might result in subtle, de facto policy modifications. In all cases, suitable risk management actions must be taken to ensure that risks are effectively identified, managed, and regulated, and that loan pricing, terms, or other non-performance precautions are suitable for the risks being faced. A credit analyst course helps in understanding all these parameters effectively. 

Underwriting is constantly improving in order to be more effective and precise. However, development in credit risk assessments has stalled over the previous decade, and firms are frequently left depending entirely on outdated credit data and self-assessed earnings.

Credit risk underwriting courses come in handy due to the ever-changing trends of this sector.

A credit analyst certification course will help you delve deeper into the subject and analyse the intricacies of this field better.

Trends in Credit Underwriting

FinTech firms are not only leveraging data, but also automating the underwriting process. They are addressing the credit needs of persons who are underserved but reputable. FinTech firms pool vast amounts of data into machine learning algorithms in order to make a credit decision and assess your creditworthiness in as little as a few hours. Since they are fully cloud-based, they have access to more data on potential borrowers than was previously available. This data allows them to gain a clearer picture of financial stability and creditworthiness more quickly.

FinTech firms utilise alternative credit scoring mechanisms to evaluate a potential consumer’s digital footprints in order to ascertain creditworthiness. This might include information gathered from electricity and telephone companies, as well as financial services such as insurance companies and the mutual fund business. FinTech firms are developing their own credit rating method by utilising algorithms and Artificial Intelligence.

Risks of Financial Institutions

  1. When the borrower does not repay the sum during the repayment period.
  2. When selling a secured asset does not produce the expected returns.
  3. In the event that a sequence of repayments is halted due to unforeseen circumstances.
  4. Credit risk as a result of money lost while settling bought assets.
  5. Risks associated with payments to offshore companies while they are subject to sovereign jurisdiction.
  6. Exchange rate risk.

Conclusion

A credit analyst certification course will help you become familiar with credit risk management and its ongoing trends. This would not only benefit you because of its breadth but will also make you an invaluable asset to money lending organisations. A credit analyst course will thus help you in realising your dreams of becoming a pro in this field.

Choosing a suitable and worthy credit analyst certification is extremely important so that you are taught the necessary skills required for the long run.

What is Credit Risk and Its Types

Breaking down Credit Risk

Risk is naturally the part and parcel of doing any business. The higher the risk the higher are the returns, this is how we naturally see risk as an important element associate with business. So what exactly is credit risk? Well, credit risk can be simply understood as the risk of default in case a borrower is not able to return the borrowed amount of money during a specified timeline.

The important thing to note here is the timeline, so if a borrower is not able to pay back the money to the lending part during a specific period then they are considered as defaulters and the risk associated with the probable bad debt is known as credit risk. The time to repay the money varies depending upon the agreement between the borrowing and the lending party.

So why do the borrowers default? Well, the borrowers could default paying the money back due to various reasons, the most common ones include financial instability and irregular cash flow. Sometimes they might not be successful with their venture that they borrowed the money for. At times, they might not intentionally pay the money back because the contractual legal obligations are not strictly enforced.

So what are the consequences for the borrowers and lenders in case a credit risk situation arises? Well, the lenders usually face cash flow disruptions and the cost of collecting the money-back also increases, they can lose the principal and the interest amount due on the loan. In short, it has major financial repercussions when you see it from a macro perspective on an aggregate level.

For the borrowers, the consequences can be legal enforcements and interest pile up on the amount due. If the borrower has pledged collateral as security for the loan it can be sold up by the lending party to recover for the losses due to the amount loaned. Generally, the collateral is not sold to recover losses and the borrowing party is given some additional time to repay the amount due along with interest.

Assessing Credit Risk

Credit risk assessment is a tool that helps lenders to avoid unnecessary credit risk. It is a method to screen out the high-risk borrowers who might have a higher probability of default. So who is a high-risk borrower? Well, generally a high-risk borrower is the one who has a bad financial track record and also has irregular cash flow, in addition to this those who don’t have collateral for the loan are also considered as high risk in some cases.

However, the risk appetite of the lending party decides if the borrower is a high risk or a moderate one. The big question here is how does the credit risk assessment take place? So if you dig

Types of Credit Risk

Credit risks can be categorized into 3 major groups depending upon the nature and characteristics of the group. Let’s get into the specifics of each type to obtain a comprehensive understanding.

  • Credit default risk
    Credit default risk is the most common type of credit risks that the lenders face quite frequently. It is the risk of default by the borrower on his/her loan obligation. It happens when a borrower fails to repay the borrowed amount during a specific period as mentioned in the contract. It influences time-sensitive transactions such as loans, securities, derivatives, etc.
  • Concentration risk
    Concentration risk can be simply understood as the risk involved with focusing on a particular industry or group. It is based on the principles of putting all your eggs in one basket. If a financial institution is focused on providing loans to a specific group of individuals then it might face a huge concentration risk when that particular group or industry is not performing well and the borrowers fail to meet the loan obligation.
  • Country risk/ Sovereign risk
    The country risk or sovereign risk is the risk arising out due to the political and economic instability in a particular state or country, the defaulter could be state or any other body within the state. Sudden instability within the nation can cause huge sovereign risk, especially for foreign firms or entities.

What Is the Difference Between a Credit Analyst and Underwriter

A credit analyst and underwriter both have a very crucial role to play in an organization. Let us look at the responsibilities of each in detail to have a better understanding as to what both of these roles entail and how do they differ.

Who is a Credit Analyst?

The primary function of banks and financial institutions in the capitalist economy is to help channels funds in the economy efficiently. They help provide funds to those in need of money and also deposit additional funds saved by people by offering them an interest in their overall deposit.

While providing loans to borrowers banks and other financial institutions have to assess the profile of the candidate who is seeking the loan. This assessment is necessary to evaluate the repayment capacity of the borrower.

The assessment is needed to find out the risk associated with providing the loan to a particular borrower. Lending institutions have to reduce their risk exposure and they like to evaluate the borrower’s financial and personal information to find out whether the risk associated with loaning the amount is in the acceptable range.
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Various important information including the borrower’s income source, credit history, monthly income, repayment capacity, etc. is analyzed thoroughly before coming to the final decision of approving or denying the loans request.
Credit Risk analysts play a crucial role by evaluating the risk factors associated with the borrower.

They are responsible for collecting and analyzing all the financial and personal records of the borrower to find out whether it’s an acceptable risk for the lending institution or not. Credit analysts work in various types of establishments including banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, credit agencies, investment banks, etc.

What Does a Credit Underwriter Do?

A credit underwriter is responsible for reviewing and scrutinizing new loan applications to find out suitable borrowers who can be trusted to repay the loan amount as per the terms and conditions of the lending institution. Underwriters are responsible for identifying and providing suitable borrowers. Underwriters are primarily responsible for figuring out commercial and personal loan eligibility.

Underwriters work side by side with the loan officer and clients from the start till the loan is disbursed. They analyze and overview the loan documentation process bachelorarbeit ghostwriter kosten. Underwriters use the ‘4Cs’ method while reviewing credit applications that include Character, Capacity, Conditions & Collateral.

How do they differ?

The role of a credit analyst and underwriter might not seem very different at first glance but both are responsible for performing different functions hausarbeit schreiben lassen. These functions are related to the loan application process but it differs when you get into the details of work done by both types of professionals.

One of the major differences between a credit analyst and a credit underwriter is that an analyst is responsible for analyzing and identifying the risks associated with ghostwriter referat loaning the funds whereas an underwriter is responsible for analyzing the documents provided by the client for loan approval.

The role of a credit analyst is a little broad as it involves conducting risk analysis to see if the borrower’s profile is a suitable fit by analyzing all associated risk factors. The role of an underwriter is, however, limited to inspecting the documents provided by the client to figure out if they have all necessary documents needed by the lending party. Another major difference between a credit analyst and an underwriter is that an underwriter works closely with both the loan officer and the client throughout the loan process whereas the credit analyst works behind the scenes to assess the borrower’s financials. If you are interested in exploring more about the roles of a credit analyst and an underwriter, seeking guidance from a ghostwriter aufsatz could be beneficial to delve into a comprehensive analysis of their responsibilities and functions.

Credit risk analysts are in high demand given the importance of risk management in the financial services industry.

Credit risk analyst is also among one of the most sought-after career options for people aspiring to be successful in the financial services industry facharbeit schreiben lassen. One can easily opt for a credit risk analyst course by reputed institutions like Imarticus Learning who also provide job assurance with some of the top firms in the industry.

Also Read: How Do I Become Credit Risk Analyst 

What is the primary objective of credit risk in banks?

What is a Credit analyst’s salary?

How Can A Credit Risk Analytics course help you?

Risk Management As a Career option: All you need to know!

The world around us is more dynamic than others. With growing businesses and the economy, the world has become prone to more and more risks. However, risks increase the chances of profitability for a business. Risks if managed efficiently, can become a blessing for the company but if the risk management activities are not undertaken with caution, things can go haywire.

Therefore, it is important for anybody who manages business risks to have undergone Banking and Finance Courses after Graduation for a better understanding of the job role.

A career in Risk Management

A risk management career can be challenging and rewarding at the same time. It is considered as one of the most important jobs owing to the current situation. He plays a pivotal role in forecasting and managing business and operational risks for a company. A risk manager must be aware of the different corporate governance policies and should add value to the functioning of the organization.

The major roles taken up by a risk manager are:

  1. He identifies risk based on his experience and his knowledge of numbers
  2. He calculates the possible outcomes of a particular case or an activity to understand the level of risk the company is exposed to.
  3. He is also responsible to come up with different models based on his past experiences so that any known or common risk can be prevented.
  4. Managing the risk management team and delegating the responsibilities based on the skillset of the person.

This is not an exhaustive list. A risk manager’s job is multidimensional and has never had such significance before.

The required skillset

A risk manager must have a diverse skillset. As the job requires analysis of huge data sets, you need to have proper analytical skills to become a successful risk manager. Data interpretation and number crunching form the base of the job role; therefore, you must be good with numbers.

Also, an individual must possess critical reasoning and logical thinking abilities to become successful in the field. Apart from data crunching, an individual must also be a decision-maker who knows to take instant decisions. He must have a very strong judgment.

Other job roles in risk management

Risk management is an extensive field where different job roles can also be taken up. Risk management profiles pay very well and also provide different growth opportunities. Some of the popular job roles in risk management are as follows:

  1. Risk advisor
  2. Loss control specialist
  3. Risk specialist
  4. Financial risk controller
  5. Risk analyst
  6. Safety consultant
  7. Chief risk officer

Becoming a risk manager

An individual must be a graduate before he takes up a risk management job. However, if you are only a graduate, you will be offered a less challenging role with lesser pay To build a successful career in risk management, you will have to have a strong academic hold. The job requires hard work and preparation and you should start preparing for these roles well in advance. Some of the courses that can help your cause are listed below:

  1. Financial Risk Management: This course is very popular and a lot of risk management aspiring professionals go for this course as it provides deeper insights into the subject.
  2. Professional Risk Management: This course is taken by professionals who are looking forward to upgrading their skillsets. It has 4 online exams module. The course can be easily completed

Risk management is an ideal job for people who have experience in finance and analytics. Also, an individual can make a strong standing career in the field as it is both challenging and well-paying.

What Are the Current Hot Topics in Credit Risk Modelling

What is Credit Risk Modeling?

A large number of varying factors affect credit risk. This makes it harder to assess the credit risk of a borrower and with such large sums hanging in the balance, credit risk modelling becomes crucial.

Credit risk model involves utilising various data models in order to find out the probability of the loan being defaulted and also the impact of this default on the financial environment of the people lending the money.
Thus, institutions of finance depend on credit risk models to find out the risks where potential clients are concerned. Decisions regarding whether the loan is to be given and the amount of interest on the loan are made on the basis of the credit risk models that are being used.

With technological advancement, novel ways of credit risk modelling have been developed. The emergence of various kinds of risks and advancement in the economy today has served to affect the way in which credit risk modelling is done. Taking a credit risk course would make this topic a lot easier to comprehend while providing the person taking it with all the necessary tools to succeed.

Factors Affecting Credit Risk Modelling

From disruption of cash flow as well as a higher cost of collection to losing interest and principal, the risks of lending are of many kinds. Thus predicting the various risks in an accurate manner is important to prevent these from happening. While assessing credit risk, factors like the financial health of the customer and the effects of any default on both the lender as well as the borrower, the three important factors to consider are as follows:

  1. PD (Probability of Default): This involves predicting and determining the probability of a borrower to commit a credit default.
  2. Loss Given Default; This is in reference to the complete loss that the creditor will have to endure in case of default. This is a very crucial part of credit risk modelling.
  3. Exposure at Default: This refers to the measure of complete exposure of a creditor at a particular time.

On taking a credit risk course, an in-depth understanding of the above-mentioned topics will be available to the person taking the course.

Topics in Credit Risk Modelling Right Now

After the financial crisis that took place recently, regulators have put into effect a large emphasis on decreasing expectation for support from the government. Instead, a larger focus is asked to be placed on bettering the management and assessment of credit risks by banks. The current topics being discussed right now regarding credit risk and the statistical implications of these are listed in brief below.

  • Expecting governmental support when a matter of distress arises in banks: Using the special features of the credit swap market, it is found that government support has decreased towards banks in distress.
  • Estimation of covariance matrices through the eyes of risk management in the market: This issue, for instance, comes from centralised credit default swap clearing. A large number of special functions in regard to the loss as well as an efficient visualization tool for assessment of estimators is what is being proposed. Regularisation would improve the overall performance of various portfolio variance models.
  • Assessment and estimation of risks in pricing products: This would involve strategically picking mispriced products by a well-informed person when the measures are unknown. The total risk of estimation can be reduced.

Credit risk courses would help individuals to better understand these discussion points. A credit risk course would allow aspirants to excel in this field by providing them with all the required information.

Also Read: What is Credit Risk Modelling

How Does Credit Risk Analysis Work

Organizations today are enveloped by different kinds of risks. Therefore, companies must prepare to manage these risks and come out of these situations without any major losses. Credit risk is one such risk that can push companies into major troubles.

Credit risk analysis refers to the analysis of risks that comes with a particular borrower. In the process of credit risk analysis, the creditworthiness of an individual is assessed. Based on the results, the decision is being taken if the loan should be given or not.

What is a Credit Risk Analysis?

Credit Risk Analysis is performed to check if a borrower will be able to pay back the loan or credit taken from the company. It also aims at ascertaining the creditworthiness of the person. This helps the lenders in understanding if the borrower will be able to pay back the money or not.

A borrower may not be given the loan if his credit risk analysis reports deem him to be someone who can bring a potential credit risk to the company. The loan is given to the borrower if his risk profile is acceptable to a credit risk analyst. A person can become a credit risk analyst by registering himself or herself in an online credit risk course and understanding how risk analysis and the other closely related systems work.

A credit rating is also assigned to the borrower after the credit risk analysis process is complete. This score will give a clear picture to the lenders who may then decide to sanction the loan or act otherwise.

Parameters driving the Credit Risk Analysis

Credit risk is analyzed to get an overview of the following parameters:

  • Chances of default: This refers to the event where a borrower might not be in a position to pay back the principal amounts and make the interest payments. The credit rating of an individual or a person helps the lender in deciding if the money should be given or not.
  • Loss in the event of default: The lender might have to bear huge losses in case the repayments of loans are not made. Losses are calculated based on the exposure of the portfolio to the loss arising due to the non-payment of dues.
  • Exposure to default: This refers to the extent to which the lender is exposed to a particular default risk. Different companies use different models to calculate risk exposure.

How does credit risk analysis work?

Credit risk analysis is a three-step process. These steps are usually followed by all the institutions that lend money frequently. These steps include:

  1. Collection of information: These analysts collect different pieces of information about the financial health of a borrower. They check the credit history of the person. This is done to understand the payment history of the borrower. Also, this gives an idea of any defaults made in terms of payments by the borrower. This information is important as this will decide if the loan should be given or not.
  2. Analysis of Information: Once all the financial information is collected, the credit risk analyst analyses the borrower’s profile to check the creditworthiness and the financial health of the borrower. He also checks different financial statements to see the inflow of cash and then ascertains the rating of the borrower.
  3. Approval or rejection of the application: Based on the analysis report and the credit rating of an individual, the lender decides whether a loan should be given to the borrower or not.

Conclusion

Credit risk analysis is a complicated process. It involves a collection of financial data which can be a cumbersome task. It then involves the analysis of all the data points. Credit risk analysts play a very important role in the functioning of the lender’s company.

What is a Credit Risk Assessment?

What is Credit Risk?

Understanding the concept of credit risk assessment requires having proper knowledge of credit risk. So what exactly is credit risk? Credit risk can be simply explained as the risk of default on debt obligations by the borrowers. It occurs when the borrowers fail to meet their contractual debt obligations and are unable to repay the borrowed amount of money during a specified period.

Credit risk can lead to heavy losses for money lenders like banks and other financial institutions who lend funds to borrowers for a specified interest rate. Credit risk can disrupt cash flows for the lending party. It arises when money is not repaid within a specific period as agreed upon earlier. The risk and loses for lenders includes lost interest and principal amount. It can lead to an increased cost of collection for lenders.

Credit risk is mainly categorized under three types, this includes credit default risk, concentration risk, sovereign risk. The concentration risk arises when lenders are focused on providing money to a specific sector or industry. In the case of an economic downturn in these specific sectors or industries, there is high credit risk in the form of concentration of capital. Sovereign or country risk is related to credit risks arising as a result of special circumstances in a given nation or state.

Credit risk can be reduced or mitigated to some extent by having good credit policies in places or insuring the loan with some third party. Another method of risk management includes diversification of operations. Credit risk assessment is one of the most important aspects of credit risk management process.

Let’s delve deeper to understand the credit risk assessment concept in details.

Credit Risk Assessment

Assessing the credit risk of a borrower plays an important role in the overall profitability of the lending institution. A proper credit risk assessment process helps to weed out the defaulters and only provide loans to those within the desired credit risk limit of the lending party. It helps the organizations to know whether a borrower can pay back his loan in a specified duration of time.

Several factors help to determine the credit risk profile of a borrower. These factors include collateral or security, capacity to repay the amount, credit history, capital requirements and loan criteria. The suitability of loans and the associated credit risk is analyzed based on these important factors.

Credit risk measures the probability of loss while lending the money to a borrower. Credit risk assessment is a complex process as there are numerous factors at play. The ever-changing market condition also adds to the uncertainty of return and needs to be factored in while loaning out funds. Credit risk modeling is an important tool that helps to predict the probability of loss based on historical data of numerous borrowers.

The method of 3C is quite popular while conducting a credit risk assessment of a borrower. Let’s briefly explore these important aspects of the credit risk assessment process.

  • Credit History: The credit history element judges the borrower based on his historical borrowing record. It measures the ability and intention of the borrower to repay the amount based on his past financial information.
  • Collateral: Good collateral acts as a safety net for the lender and can speed up the loan process if a borrower offers to pledge collateral for the money. If the borrower fails to repay the loan then the collateral pledged can be sold to recover the loses by the lender.
  • Cash flow: Cash flow is a measure of the capacity of the borrower to repay the loan amount. If the borrowing party has consistent and sufficient cash flow, they can easily repay the loan amount.

What do Credit Underwriters do?

The world we live in is full of risks. We have to constantly analyze the risk appetite of companies so that they can survive in this dynamic atmosphere. Therefore, we need people who can effectively analyze these risks and come up with solutions to avoid risk.

This risk can arise from different functions of a company including sales, etc. Finance has become a very important area because companies today have completely changed the way they deal with money. This domain is not free from risks. Financial risks envelop organizations in a way that only experts can handle those kinds of risks.

Who are Underwriters?

An underwriter plays a very important role in any organization, especially in financial organizations. All companies have certain risks involved in their operations. An underwriter comes to your rescue. He is a person or a party who takes up and handles the risks associated with any company in exchange for some fee. This fee is called the commission which applies to all kinds of services provided by an underwriter.

The finance domain considers underwriting a critical function as underwriters are at the helm of affairs when it comes to mortgages, insurances, debt, equity, bonds, financial instruments etc. To become an underwriter, you can take up an underwriting course to understand the nuances of the subject and the kind of work underwriters do.

Types of Underwriters

Underwriters manage the risks of a particular area in finance where they are subject matter experts. Different underwriters come from different areas of expertise. Some of the types of underwriters are mentioned below:

  • Mortgage Underwriters: They check if the applicant or the borrower meets all of the requirements before giving them the loan amount. To be precise, they analyse the creditworthiness of a borrower. They are the final approvers of any kind of credit given to individuals and organisations
  • Insurance Underwriters: They analyse risks associated with different insurance policies. They review insurance applications and then decide on the premium amounts to be paid based on the risk appetite of the individual.
  • Debt Underwriters: These people also purchase securities on behalf of different companies. The motive of such a purchase is to sell these securities later at a profit.
  • Equity Underwriters: Underwriters also manage the distribution of equity shares. They also have a major role to play in the entire IPO process. This includes selling of shares for the very first time in the stock market

You can take up an underwriting course to understand your interests.

What Functions Does an Underwriter Perform?

An underwriter is an expert when it comes to analysing the risks associated with different financial functions or with an upcoming deal or proposal. They help out lenders in formulating their plan of action. He also performs the following functions:

  1. He looks into the credit history of an individual or a company who is looking forward to borrowing some money. They use different analysing techniques to check the credit score and any major defaults associated with that particular person.
  2. He would also take care of the income statements and any other proofs required.
  3. An underwriter also calculates different ratios to ascertain the financial position of a company. These ratios help him in understanding the risk profile in a better way.
  4. Some of the underwriters also take care of the asset management functions. As their main job is to analyze potential risks and come up with solutions to minimize the risk, it becomes important for them to handle the areas which can impact finances.

Conclusion

Underwriters play a very important role in today’s financial world. You can also call him an expert in finance who takes care of everything.

What is Credit Analysis Process?

The credit analysis process is all about evaluating the credit risk of borrowers to determine their eligibility for loans and other credit facilities. Before jumping into the details of the credit analysis process, let’s understand the meaning of credit risk to have a comprehensive understanding of how the credit analysis process works.

Understanding Credit Risk

Credit risk can be simply understood as the risk of default by a borrower on his loan repayments. It is the risk of loss that will result if the borrowing party fails to meet its contractual obligation. If the borrower is unable to repay the money during a specified period, he can be categorized as a credit risk. Traditionally credit risk amounts included the principal and interest amount due on the loan taken by the borrower.

Credit risks can lead to heavy losses and decreased cash flow for banks and financial institutions whose major source of income is the interest amount earned on loaned out funds. To reduce the proportion of high-risk borrowers most banks and financial institutions charge a higher interest rate on the amount lent to the borrowers. This deters the borrowers who have no intent to repay the loan or who might not have sufficient earning to repay the borrowed funds.

Credit Analysis Process

Lending money to high credit risk borrowers can result in lower revenue and cash flow for banks or other lending institutions. To mitigate the credit risk from borrowers who might not repay the loans, the banks have a credit analysis process in place to evaluate the financial standing of the borrower and check whether they meet the criteria specified by the banks or other lending institutions.

The credit analysis process is all about evaluating and assessing the loan request of the borrowing party to determine whether they have a good cash flow to service their loan payments promptly. It helps to determine the creditworthiness of the borrower based on their historical financial track record and also identify the level of credit risk associated with loaning the money to the borrowers.

Now to evaluate the creditworthiness, the lending parties have various credit analysis techniques that will help to find out the facts. Some of the most prominent credit analysis techniques include ratio analysis, risk analysis, cash flow analysis, trend analysis, financial projections, etc. This technique helps to effectively evaluate the amount of loss that will occur in case the borrowers default on their loan payments. Primarily the credit risk analysis process is distributed in three stages.

These stages include the following.

Information gathering

In this stage of analysis, the lender intends to collect as much historical financial data available on the borrower as possible. Different factors are evaluated to assess the credit history of the borrower; this includes repayment track of the borrower, financial solvency, cash flow, personal or organizational reputation, etc. In addition to this, other information such as purpose and feasibility of the loan is also collected to have a comprehensive understanding.

Data Analysis

This stage deals with assessing the relevancy and accuracy of information gathered in the initial stage. It is carried out to detect any anomalies of false presentation of information by the borrower. All relevant documents are also analyzed to detect any fraudulent practices. Important financial statements of the borrower such as balance sheet, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement, etc. are also analyzed to evaluate the ability of the borrower. The purpose and relevancy of the project being undertaken are also analyzed to compute the feasibility.

Approval or Rejection of the Loan

The last and final stage is all about decision making. A decision is taken by the lending party based on all the information collected and analyzed as to whether it will be profitable to loan out the money to the borrower. If the credit risk limit is acceptable by the lending party standards, the loan is granted to the borrower or else it is simply rejected.

Also Read: What is Credit Risk Analysis & Why It is Important