Synopses & Reviews
Credit Risk Measurement
On December 2, 2001, Enron Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At an asset value of $49.53 billion, this was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history to date. At the time, many of the world's most prominent financial institutions had billions of dollars of credit risk exposure to Enron. Adoption of early warning systems that accurately measure credit risk exposure might have alerted these investors in time for them to take action to manage their risk exposure. That is the role of the credit measurement models surveyed in this book. Indeed, you can see at a glance that several of these models-KMV's EDF score and Altman's Z-Score-predicted significant increases in Enron's credit risk exposure long before the bankruptcy filing.
A recent revolution has been brewing in risk measurement and risk management. In the past two years, the art of credit risk measurement has progressed far beyond anyone's expectations-many models are already entering their second generation. Contrary to its relatively dull and routine history, this new generation of credit risk modeling has seen the emergence of new technologies and ideas. The search by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to design a new set of international bank capital regulations, scheduled for adoption in 2005, hinges on details of model structure and data availability. Much of this highly technical debate has been inaccessible to the interested practitioner, student, economist, or regulator-until now.
In the fully updated Credit Risk Measurement: New Approaches to Value at Risk and Other Paradigms, Second Edition, Anthony Saunders and Linda Allen discuss all of the latest credit risk measurement and modeling techniques. Simplifying many of the technical and analytical details surrounding these models, Saunders and Allen concentrate on the underlying economics and their level of economic intuition to objectively evaluate the new models. Saunders and Allen examine how these new models approach the evaluation of individual borrower and portfolio credit risk exposure, as well as the development of derivative contracts to manage credit risk exposure.
The alternative models include (among others):
* Loans as options: the KMV and Moody's models
* Intensity-based models: KPMG's Loan Analysis System and Kamakura's Risk Manager
* VAR models, including stress testing: CreditMetrics and Algorithmics' Mark-to-Future
* The insurance approach: mortality models and CSFP Credit Risk Plus
* RAROC models
* The BIS proposals for the New Basel Capital Accord updated to 2002
The art and science of credit risk management is the single most important topic in finance today-from the 2002 BIS proposals to cutting-edge risk measurement models known as intensity-based models. To get a jump on these new concepts and tools, you need the best guidance available. With its comprehensive coverage, summary, and comparison of new approaches, Credit Risk Measurement, Second Edition gives you the best opportunity to do so. With clear explanations of often complex material, Credit Risk Measurement, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for bankers, academics and students, economists, and regulators.
Synopsis
Praise for Credit Risk Measurement
New Approaches to Value at Risk and Other Paradigms
Second Edition
"Saunders and Allen provide practitioners a comprehensive picture of the tools available for the notoriously difficult task of quantifying credit risk. Without neglecting the underlying theory, they zero in on the actual technologies being employed, offering unbiased views of their comparative strengths and limitations."
-Martin Fridson, Chief High Yield Strategist, Merrill Lynch & Co.
"Nowhere else can be found such a clear and rigorous presentation of the newest models, both original and second-generation, for analyzing stand-alone and portfolio credit asset risk models. This is a must read for any practitioner or scholar interested in applying or testing the latest entries in the credit risk modeling challenge or for attempting to build and test new approaches."
-Edward I. Altman, Max L. Heine Professor of Finance, NYU Stern School of Business
"A great introduction to the issues and concepts of credit risk management. The first edition offered a remarkably clear, 'big picture' perspective. This edition expands and updates the topics covered."
-Mark Flannery, BankAmerica Eminent Scholar in Finance, University of Florida
"Measuring credit risk accurately has become increasingly important as economies almost worldwide have slowed with an accompanying increase in defaults and default losses. At the same time, the widespread controversies surrounding the proposed changes in the Basel risk weights for bank credit risk exposures have highlighted the complexity of such computations. The second edition of this book makes a timely contribution in describing both the theory underlying credit risk measurement and the alternative approaches for estimating risk exposures empirically. The book should be read by bankers and credit analysts, as well as by bank supervisors and policymakers involved in bank risk regulation."
-George Kaufman, John F. Smith Jr. Professor of Finance and Economics
Loyola University Chicago
"Since the welcome appearance of the first edition of Credit Risk Measurement in 1999, readers from academia as well as the workaday world of finance have benefited from its sweeping overview of the topic and detailed 'how-to' analysis. It is thus reassuring that bankers, insurers, professors, and students alike can again rely on Professors Saunders and Allen for their cogent update of this survival manual. It is now, more than ever, a 'must read.'"
-Manuel Sebastiao, Member of the Board, Bank of Portugal
Synopsis
The most cutting-edge read on the pricing, modeling, and management of credit risk availableThe rise of credit risk measurement and the credit derivatives market started in the early 1990s and has grown ever since. For many professionals, understanding credit risk measurement as a discipline is now more important than ever. Credit Risk Measurement, Second Edition has been fully revised to reflect the latest thinking on credit risk measurement and to provide credit risk professionals with a solid understanding of the alternative approaches to credit risk measurement.
This readable guide discusses the latest pricing, modeling, and management techniques available for dealing with credit risk. New chapters highlight the latest generation of credit risk measurement models, including a popular class known as intensity-based models. Credit Risk Measurement, Second Edition also analyzes significant changes in banking regulations that are impacting credit risk measurement at financial institutions. With fresh insights and updated information on the world of credit risk measurement, this book is a must-read reference for all credit risk professionals.
Anthony Saunders (New York, NY) is the John M. Schiff Professor of Finance and Chair of the Department of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He holds positions on the Board of Academic Consultants of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as well as the Council of Research Advisors for the Federal National Mortgage Association. He is the editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance and the Journal of Financial Markets, Instruments and Institutions.
Linda Allen (New York, NY) is Professor of Finance at Baruch College and Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. She also is author of Capital Markets and Institutions: A Global View (Wiley: 0471130494).
Over the years, financial professionals around the world have looked to the Wiley Finance series and its wide array of bestselling books for the knowledge, insights, and techniques that are essential to success in financial markets. As the pace of change in financial markets and instruments quickens, Wiley Finance continues to respond. With critically acclaimed books by leading thinkers on value investing, risk management, asset allocation, and many other critical subjects, the Wiley Finance series provides the financial community with information they want. Written to provide professionals and individuals with the most current thinking from the best minds in the industry, it is no wonder that the Wiley Finance series is the first and last stop for financial professionals looking to increase their financial expertise.
About the Author
ANTHONY SAUNDERS is John M. Schiff Professor of Finance and Chair of the Department of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He holds positions on the Board of Academic Consultants of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Council of Research Advisors for the Federal National Mortgage Association. He is an editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance and Financial Markets, Instruments, and Institutions.
LINDA ALLEN is Professor of Finance at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, CUNY, and Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. She is also the author of Capital Markets and Institutions: A Global View (Wiley). She is an associate editor of the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Economics and Business, Multinational Finance Journal, Journal of Multinational Financial Management, and The Financier.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations.
Why New Approaches to Credit Risk Measurement and Management?
Traditional Approaches to Credit Risk Measurement.
The BIS Basel International Bank Capital Accord: January 2002.
Loans as Options: The KMV and Moody's Models.
Reduced Form Models: KPMG's Loan Analysis System and Kamakura's Risk Manager.
The VAR Approach: CreditMetrics and Other Models.
The Macro Simulation Approach: The CreditPortfolio View and Other Models.
The Insurance Approach: Mortality Models and the CSFP Credit Risk Plus Model.
A Summary and Comparison of New Internal Model Approaches.
Overview of Modern Portfolio Theory and Its Application to Loan Portfolios.
Loan Portfolio Selection and Risk Management.
Stress Testing Credit Risk Models: Algorithmics Mark-to-Future.
Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital Models.
Off-Balance-Sheet Credit Risk.
Credit Derivatives.
Bibliography.
Notes.
Index.