Strategic Credit Management

Strategic Credit Management Successive waves of deregulation/regulation occurring since the early 1980s…the rapid emergence of new, highly aggressive domestic and foreign competitors…the continuing erosion of the banking/S&L wholesale loan portfolio…these are just some of the major forces that have conspired to reshape the face of banking in America radically over the past several years. But no matter how different today's banks are from a generation ago, and no matter how many new products and services they now offer, their number one source of capital assets continues to be making loans. If they are to survive and thrive in the turbulent banking environment of the 1990s, commercial banking institutions must adopt a more versatile, far-reaching strategic approach to credit management suitable to today's increasingly complex, fiercely competitive lending environment. This book addresses these issues and provides a framework around which a modern credit management process can be built. Written by Sam N. Basu, a distinguished academic and banking professional, and Harold L. Rolfes, Jr., a banking and investment professional who has held executive positions at one of North America's most prestigious financial institutions, Strategic Credit Management provides commercial banking executives with a blueprint for strategic change in managing credit risk in the 1990s. The authors begin with an in-depth review and analysis of the entire field of credit management in light of the many changes that have swept the industry since deregulation began in the early 1980s. They then clearly identify the deep-rooted systemic problems that contribute to most commercial banks' lending failures. Working from the first principle that the objective of the credit management process isn't avoiding bad loans, but making good ones, they next offer a set of clear-cut guidelines and action steps that readers can take to strategically reengineer their organizations' credit management process. The authors provide proven strategies and cutting-edge techniques for successful credit analysis, credit management, loan structuring, and loan workouts. And they even outline a detailed, easy-to-implement program for management training with an emphasis on fostering the ability to adapt quickly to the ever-changing legal, regulatory, and market conditions surrounding credit management. Timely, authoritative, and prescriptive, Strategic Credit Management is an essential tool of survival in today's helterskelter banking environment.