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Rating Models and Validation - Oesterreichische Nationalbank

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<strong>Rating</strong> <strong>Models</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Validation</strong><br />

II ESTIMATING AND VALIDATING<br />

PROBABILITY OF DEFAULT (PD)<br />

1 Defining Segments for Credit Assessment<br />

Credit assessments are meant to help a bank measure whether potential borrowers<br />

will be able to meet their loan obligations in accordance with contractual<br />

agreements. However, a credit institution cannot perform credit assessments<br />

in the same way for all of its borrowers.<br />

This point is supported by three main arguments, which will be explained in<br />

greater detail below:<br />

1. The factors relevant to creditworthiness vary for different borrower types.<br />

2. The available data sources vary for different borrower types.<br />

3. Credit risk levels vary for different borrower types.<br />

Ad 1.<br />

Wherever possible, credit assessment procedures must include all data <strong>and</strong><br />

information relevant to creditworthiness. However, the factors determining creditworthiness<br />

will vary according to the type of borrower concerned, which<br />

means that it would not make sense to define a uniform data set for a bankÕs<br />

entire credit portfolio. For example, the credit quality of a government depends<br />

largely on macroeconomic indicators, while a company will be assessed on the<br />

basis of the quality of its management, among other things.<br />

Ad 2.<br />

Completely different data sources are available for various types of borrowers.<br />

For example, the bank can use the annual financial statements of companies<br />

which prepare balance sheets in order to assess their credit quality, whereas this<br />

is not possible in the case of retail customers. In the latter case, it is necessary to<br />

gather analogous data, for example by requesting information on assets <strong>and</strong> liabilities<br />

from the customers themselves.<br />

Ad 3.<br />

Empirical evidence shows that average default rates vary widely for different<br />

types of borrowers. For example, governments exhibit far lower default rates<br />

than business enterprises. Therefore, banks should account for these varying levels<br />

of risk in credit assessment by segmenting their credit portfolios accordingly.<br />

This also makes it possible to adapt the intensity of credit assessment according<br />

to the risk involved in each segment.<br />

Segmenting the credit portfolio is thus a basic prerequisite for assessing the<br />

creditworthiness of all a bankÕs borrowers based on the specific risk involved.<br />

On the basis of business considerations, we distinguish between the following<br />

general segments in practice:<br />

— Governments <strong>and</strong> the public sector<br />

— Financial service providers<br />

— Corporate customers<br />

¥ Enterprises/business owners<br />

¥ Specialized lending<br />

— Retail customers<br />

8 Guidelines on Credit Risk Management

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