Measuring the risk of a credit portfolio is a challenge for financial institutions because of the regulations brought by the Basel Committee. In recent years lots of models and state-of-the-art methods, which utilize Monte Carlo simulation, were proposed to solve this problem. In most of the models factors are used to account for the correlations between obligors. We concentrate on the the normal copula model, which assumes multivariate normality of the factors. Computation of value at risk (VaR) and expected shortfall (ES) for realistic credit portfolio models is subtle, since, (i) there is dependency throughout the portfolio; (ii) an efficient method is required to compute tail loss probabilities and conditional expectations at multiple points simultaneously. This is why Monte Carlo simulation must be improved by variance reduction techniques such as importance sampling (IS). Thus a new method is developed for simulating tail loss probabilities and conditional expectations for a standard credit risk portfolio. The new method is an integration of IS with inner replications using geometric shortcut for dependent obligors in a normal copula framework. Numerical results show that the new method is better than naive simulation for computing tail loss probabilities and conditional expectations at a single x and VaR value. Finally, it is shown that compared to the standard t statistic a skewness-correction method of Peter Hall is a simple and more accurate alternative for constructing confidence intervals. (author´s abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

When adjusted to sovereign entities, the structural credit risk model assumes a negative (positive) relationship between sovereign CDS spreads and stock prices (volatilities). In theory both markets are supposed to incorporate new information simultaneously. Discrepancies from the theoretical relationship can be exploited by capital structure arbitrageurs. In our thesis we study the intertemporal relationship between sovereign CDS and stock index markets in East Asia during the period of 2007 – 2011. We detect a negative (by and large positive) relationship between the Asian CDS spreads and stock indexes (volatilities). Across the whole region the sovereign CDS market dominates the price discovery process. However, 4 out of 7 Asian countries (Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines) demonstrate a feedback effect. The stock markets of countries with higher credit spreads (Indonesia, the Philippines and Korea) appear to react more severely at heightened variance in the CDS market. When considered separately for turbulent vs. calm periods, we find that the lead-lag relationship between the Asian sovereign CDS and stock markets is not stable. Apart from that, both markets become more interrelated during periods of increased volatility. The dependency of Asian CDS spreads and stock indexes on the “fear index” detected in the frames of robustness check implies an integration of both markets into the global one. Therefore, while seeking for arbitrage opportunities in the respective Asian markets one should also take into account possible influences of broader global factors.

The introduction, and evolution of securitisation over the years, has made a phenomenal contribution to the area of corporate finance. Securitisation is specialised area which has evolved to deliver considerable advantages to banks and their corporate and government clients, a sub-subjected explored in this thesis. Securitisation is using the cashflow, creditworthiness and collateral of receivables to raise finance from the capital markets. To date, research on the subject of securitisation has produced a few textbooks and numerous articles written by academics and practitioners. The ambit of these writings addresses three questions, namely, what is securitisation; how does it work in practice; and how can securitisation be developed so that it can continue delivering advantages in the evolving world of corporate finance. Securitisation is very much a practical subject, and given that the author had very little, if any, practical exposure to the subject prior to developing this thesis, the author, admittedly, felt challenged to ascertain significant issues that could be developed to the extent that such development represents an original contribution to knowledge. Case law in the US had already explored the most significant issue regarding securitisation, namely, true sale. Armed with a solid theoretical base of knowledge that author looked for inspiration, and discovered it during the initial days when the Enron scandal hit the headlines. In short, the Enron scandal involved using the concept of securitisation to facilitate financial crime. The masterminds (if its appropriate to use such description) of the scandal, as this thesis will unfold later, cleverly used thousands of securitisation and hedging transactions to raise funds in order to give financial creditability to a giant corporation which on the surface appeared prosperous but, in reality, was breathing to a large extent on borrowed funds. This scandal, in which securitisation was used, inspired the author to develop the originality of the thesis by focusing on the issue of securitisation and financial crime. Given that financial crime is a huge area to explore, the author narrowed the focus to look at money laundering, and address the question: can the practice of securitisation facilitate money laundering? To approach this question and answer it at doctorate level required a solid understanding of what securitisation is and how it works in practice. Using textbooks, articles and conversations with practitioners, the thesis documents under Part 1, what securitisation is and how it works in practice before moving on to Part 2 to look at if and how securitisation can facilitate money laundering.

Dans cette thèse, nous examinons les apports importants de la modélisation de la dépendance par la théorie des copules dans le cadre des problématiques liées à la gestion des portefeuilles financiers et des produits structurés de crédits.La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à la gestion des portefeuilles financiers. Nous étudions en premier lieu la relation qui peut s'établir entre le niveau de diversification du portefeuille et le choix de la copule ayant décrit au mieux la structure de dépendance. L'objectif est de pouvoir identifier une caractéristique dans les portefeuilles permettant une sélection plus simple de la copule appropriée. Dans un deuxième chapitre, nous proposons d'étudier l'impact d'une mauvaise spécification du modèle de copule sur les estimations des mesures de risque conventionnelles telles la Value-at-Risk et l'Expected-Shortfall. L'idée est de vérifier l'utilité de développer ces estimations sous l'angle du vrai modèle copule. Dans un troisième chapitre, nous étudions l'impact d'une mauvaise spécification du modèle copule dans le cadre d'un problème d'allocation optimale de portefeuilles. L'objectif principal vise surtout à identifier la sensibilité des investisseurs, en fonction de leurs degrés d'aversion aux risques (pertes), pour l'une au l'autre des composante du modèle copule. Nous proposons ainsi d'établir une passerelle entre les enseignements des théories de la finance comportementale et la modélisation de la dépendance par la théorie des copules.La deuxième partie de la thèse porte sur les produits structurés de crédit. Nous étudions, dans un premier chapitre, l'apport d'un modèle actuariel, utilisant les fonctions copules dans la modélisation de la structure de dépendance entre les temps de défauts, dans le cadre du processus d'estimation des mesures de risque. Enfin, dans un dernier chapitre nous revisitons la notion du « Diversity Score », développée par l'agence de notation Moody's dans l'objectif d'assigner la qualité de produits structurés de crédit en terme de diversification. Nous discutons de l'analogie de cette mesure avec celle de l'approche copule, et nous démontrons son adéquation avec quelques familles de fonctions copules. / In this thesis, we examine one key topic related to copula theory contributions to the financial portfolio management theory and to the study of structured credit products.The first part of this thesis deals with financial portfolio management. We first discuss the relationship between portfolio diversification and the choice of the copula that better describes the dependence structure. The goal is to identify one feature of portfolios making straightforward the process of the appropriate copula selection. In the second chapter, we propose to study the impact of copula model misspecification, on conventional risk measures estimates as for the example of Value-at-Risk and Expected-Shortfall. The idea is to check the validity of developing these estimates under the true copula model. In a third chapter, we apply such approach to optimal portfolio allocation problem. The main objective is to identify investor's sensitivity, depending on their risk (or loss) aversion, to one of the component of the copula model. Thus, we propose one possible linkage between the behavioral finance theory and the copula functions framework.The second part of the thesis focuses on structured credit products. In a first chapter, we study the contribution of an actuarial model, using copulas functions in modeling the dependence structure between times of defaults, in the process of risk measures estimates. Finally, in a last chapter we re-examine the “Diversity Score” concept, developed by the Moody's rating agency to assign the quality of structured credit portfolio in terms of diversification. We discuss the analogy of this measure with that of the copula approach, and demonstrate its adequacy with some copula functions families.

In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, the way credit risk is affected by and affects the macroeconomic environment has been the focus of academics, risk practitioners and central bankers alike. In this thesis I approach three distinct questions that aim to provide valuable insight into how corporate defaults, recoveries and credit ratings interact with the conditions in the wider economy. The first question focuses on how well the macroeconomic environment forecasts corporate bond defaults. I approach the question from a macroeconomic perspective and I make full use of the multitude of lengthy macroeconomic time series available. Following the recent literature on data-rich environment modelling, I summarise a large panel of 103 macroeconomic time series into a small set of 6 dynamic factors; the factors capture business cycle, yield curve, credit premia and equity market conditions. Prior studies on dynamic factors use identification schemes based on principal components or recursive short-run restrictions. The main contribution to the body of existing literature is that I provide a novel and more robust identification scheme for the 6 macro-financial stochastic factors, based on a set of over-identifying restrictions. This allows for a more straightforward interpretation of the extracted factors and a more meaningful decomposition of the corporate default dynamics. Furthermore, I use a novel Bayesian estimation scheme based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that has not been used before in a credit risk context. I argue that the proposed algorithm provides an effcient and flexible alternative to the simulation based estimation approaches used in the existing literature. The sampling scheme is used to estimate a state-of-the-art dynamic econometric specification that is able to separate macro-economic fluctuations from unobserved default clustering. Finally, I provide evidence that the macroeconomic factors can lead to significant improvements in default probability forecasting performance. The forecasting performance gains become less pronounced the longer the default forecasting horizon. The second question explores the sensitivity of corporate bond defaults and recoveries on monetary policy and macro-financial shocks. To address the question, I follow a more structural approach to extract theory-based economic shocks and quantify the magnitude of the impact on the two main credit risk drivers. This is the first study that approaches the decomposition of the movements in credit risk metrics from a structural perspective. I introduce a VAR model with a novel semi-structural identification scheme to isolate the various shocks at the macro level. The dynamic econometric specification for defaults and recoveries is similar to the one used to address the first question. The specification is flexible enough to allow for the separation of the macroeconomic movements from the credit risk specific unobserved correlation and, therefore, isolate the different shock transmission mechanisms. I report that the corporate default likelihood is strongly affected by balance sheet and real economy shocks for the cyclical industry sectors, while the effects of monetary policy shocks typically take up to one year to materialise. In contrast, recovery rates tend to be more sensitive to asset price shocks, while real economy shocks mainly affect secured debt recovery values. The third question shifts the focus to credit ratings and addresses the Through-the- Cycle dynamics of the serial dependence in rating migrations. The existing literature treats the so-called rating momentum as constant through time. I show that the rating momentum is far from constant, it changes with the business cycle and its magnitude exhibits a non-linear dependence on time spent in a given rating grade. Furthermore, I provide robust evidence that the time-varying rating momentum substantially increases actual and Marked-to-Market losses in periods of stress. The impact on regulatory capital for financial institutions is less clear; nevertheless, capital requirements for high credit quality portfolios can be significantly underestimated during economic downturns.

A securitização de recebíveis é uma modalidade de estruturação financeira que permite à empresa originadora de créditos o acesso direto ao mercado de capitais, constituindo-se em importante ferramenta para a desintermediação financeira. Basicamente, esta modalidade consiste na cessão dos créditos a uma companhia constituída especificamente para este fim e a emissão de títulos, por esta última, lastreados nos créditos adquiridos. O investidor em um título securitizado se beneficia porque não corre o risco da empresa originadora dos créditos, e sim o risco diversificado dos recebíveis que lastreiam o título. No Brasil, a securitização se desenvolveu na forma dos fundos de investimento em direitos creditórios os FIDCs , que captam emitindo cotas seniores e cotas subordinadas. Este trabalho investiga as técnicas relacionadas à securitização, as práticas do mercado de capitais, os benefícios desta modalidade de estruturação financeira, e avalia os riscos dos FIDCs para o investidor em cotas sênior e para o originador que, normalmente, adquire as cotas subordinadas. São apresentadas também as normas estabelecidas pelas autoridades monetárias visando fazer frente aos riscos inerentes à securitização, uma vez que esta forma de estruturação é largamente empregada por instituições financeiras; e avaliado se estas normas estão adequadas para seu propósito. / The securitization is a type of structure finance which allows a company capable of originate receivables to access the capital market, and so, contributing to the financial disintermediation. Basically, the securitization consists in selling credits for a special purpose vehicle, responsible for issuing securities collateralized by those receivables. The investor in a securitized obligation has the benefit of avoiding the risks coming from the credit originator, but the diversified risk from its collateral. In Brazil, the securitization took the form of mutual funds the FIDC, which borrow funds by issuing senior and subordinated cotes. This study investigates the securitization techniques, the capital market practices, the benefits of this structure finance model and, in the case of a FIDC, the risks arising from senior and subordinated cotes. The rules established by the monetary authorities focusing the risks inherent of the securitization process are also presented, considering the fact this structure is largely used by financial institutions; additionally, the adequacy of those rules are evaluated.

Este trabalho analisa a importância das variáveis macroeconômicas fundamentais na explicação do diferencial de juros dos países periféricos europeus depois de 2009. Mostramos que, após a Alemanha rejeitar o resgate dos títulos gregos, os investidores não só passaram a exigir maiores rentabilidades dos países periféricos com maior endividamento em relação ao PIB como também passaram a utilizar outras medidas macroeconômicas fundamentais para atribuir preço aos títulos soberanos: o crescimento real do PIB e a taxa efetiva de câmbio. Também verificamos que mudanças na volatilidade do S&P medidas pelo índice Vix passaram a ser significativas na formação de preço dos títulos após 2010, demonstrando que os investidores consideraram os países periféricos europeus menos seguros após essa decisão de a Alemanha não resgatar os títulos gregos. / This work investigates the importance of macroeconomic fundamentals in explaining the increase in the peripheral European sovereign spreads after 2009. After Germany refused to bail-out Greece, we show that investors not only increased the peripheral European sovereign spreads explained by the debt to GDP ratio, but also started pricing risk by observing additional macroeconomic fundamentals: the real gdp growth rate and the real effective exchange rate. We also show that changes in the Vix are priced only after 2010, demonstrating that investors considered European peripheral countries less safe after Germany decided not to bail-out Greece.

A presente tese objetivou investigar a contribuição de variáveis e escalas psicológicas sugeridas pela literatura de Psicologia Econômica, a fim de predizer o risco de crédito de pessoas físicas. Nesse sentido, através das técnicas de regressão logística, e seguindo todas as etapas para desenvolvimento de modelos de credit scoring, foram construídos modelos de application scoring para pessoas físicas com variáveis sociodemográficas e situacionais, comumente utilizadas nos modelos tradicionais, mais a inclusão de variáveis comportamentais e escalas psicológicas, tais como: variáveis de comparação social, variáveis relacionadas com educação financeira, variáveis de comportamento de consumo, proxies de autocontrole e horizonte temporal, escala do significado do dinheiro (ESD), escala de autoeficácia, escala de lócus de controle, escala de otimismo, escala de autoestima e escala de comprador compulsivo. Os resultados foram contundentes e direcionaram para uma significativa contribuição de algumas dessas variáveis em predizer o risco de crédito dos indivíduos. As variáveis oriundas da ESD mostraram que as dimensões negativas relacionadas com o dinheiro estão mais associadas a indivíduos com problemas com dívidas. Também foi possível constatar que indivíduos com altos escores na escala de autoeficácia, provavelmente indicando um maior grau de otimismo e excesso de confiança, estão mais associados ao grupo de mau pagador. Notou-se ainda que compradores classificados como compulsivos possui maior probabilidade de se encontrar no grupo de mau crédito. Indivíduos que consideram presentear crianças e amigos em datas comemorativas como uma necessidade, mesmo que muitas pessoas considerem um luxo, possuem maior chance de se encontrarem no grupo de mau crédito. Problemas de autocontrole identificados por indivíduos que bebem em média mais de quatro copos de bebida alcoólica no dia ou são fumantes, mostraram-se importantes para identificar tendências ao endividamento. A partir desses achados acredita-se que a presente tese avançou no entendimento do risco de crédito das pessoas físicas, de forma a suscitar variáveis que podem aumentar a precisão da previsão dos modelos de credit scoring, tendo como uma das implicações imediatas a consideração de algumas das variáveis significativas como uma pergunta no formulário cadastral para novos clientes, tais como: Você acha que presentear amigos em datas comemorativas é uma necessidade ou luxo? Você acha que presentear crianças em datas comemorativas é uma necessidade ou luxo? Na média, você bebe mais de 4 copos de bebida alcoólica no dia? Você fuma cigarros? As implicações dos resultados também podem ser discutidas no âmbito dos modelos de behavioral scoring e modelos de credit scoring para pessoas jurídicas. / This works aimed to investigate the contribution of variables and psychological scales, suggested by the literature of Economic Psychology, in order to predict the credit risk of individuals. Accordingly, through the techniques of logistic regression, and following all the steps for developing credit scoring models, application scoring models were built for individuals with socio demographic and situational variables, commonly used in traditional models, further the inclusion of behavioral variables and psychological scales, such as: variables of social comparison, variables related to financial education, variables in consumption behavior, proxies of self-control and temporal horizon, meaning of money scale (MMS), scale of self efficacy, locus of control scale, scale of optimism, scale of self-esteem and scale of compulsive buyer. The results were blunt, and directed a significant contribution to some of these variables in predicting the credit risk of individuals. The variables derived from the MMS showed that the negative dimensions related to money are more associated to individuals with debt problems. It was also noted that individuals with high scores on selfefficacy scale, probably indicating a higher degree of optimism and overconfidence, are the group most associated with bad credit. It was noted also that buyers classified as compulsive ones are more likely to find in the group of bad credit. Individuals who consider gifting children and friends on commemorative dates as a necessity, even though many people consider a luxury, have more chance in being found in the group of bad credit. Self-control problems, identified by individuals who drink more than four glasses of alcohol a day, or are smokers, were important to identify indebtedness trends. From these findings it is believed that this works has advanced the understanding of the credit risk of individuals, giving rise to variables that may increase the forecast accuracy of credit scoring models, having as one of the immediate implications, considering of some of the significant variables as one of the questions about the individual when he fills the new application form, such as: Do you think gifting friends in commemorative dates is a necessity or luxury? Do you think gifting children in commemorative dates is a necessity or luxury? On average, you drink more than four glasses of alcohol a day? Do you smoke cigarettes? The implications of these results can also be discussed in the context of behavioral scoring models and credit scoring models for corporations.

Submitted by Bruno Bortoluzzo Pazzoto (brunopazzoto@hotmail.com) on 2012-10-01T13:52:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao bruno pazzoto - versão final.pdf: 1116879 bytes, checksum: 97b2413340bda7342a4871944c193ff1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2012-10-01T14:37:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao bruno pazzoto - versão final.pdf: 1116879 bytes, checksum: 97b2413340bda7342a4871944c193ff1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-01T15:10:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao bruno pazzoto - versão final.pdf: 1116879 bytes, checksum: 97b2413340bda7342a4871944c193ff1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-30 / With the relevance of the credit market has been gaining in the economy this study set out to do a conceptual review of credit risk. Since the expected loss as the main component of credit risk, the work proposes a new way to calculate it. The way it is modeled usually presuppose that the input parameters PD and LGD are independent. Some authors have questioned this assumption and that if this dependence is not taken into account calculations of expected loss and capital should be allocated will be incorrect. An alternative to treat the correlation is modeling the two components together, comparing the results of the usual model with the new model the conclusion is that the error of estimate of expected loss with the second model has been smaller. We can not say that the smallest error in the estimate of loss is because of the correlation between PD and LGD, but modeling the parameters together retires this strong assumption. / Com a relevância que o mercado de crédito vem ganhando na economia o presente trabalho se propôs a fazer uma revisão conceitual do risco de crédito. Tendo a perda esperada como o principal componente do risco de crédito, o trabalho se aprofundou nesse tema propondo uma maneira nova para o cálculo da mesma. Da maneira que ela é modelada usualmente pressupoem que os parâmetros de PD e LGD são independentes. Alguns autores questionam essa pressuposição e que, se essa dependência não for levada em conta os cálculos de perda esperada e o capital que deveria ser alocado estarão incorretos. Uma alternativa para tratar a correlação é modelar os dois componentes conjuntamente, ao comparar os resultados do modelo usual com o modelo conjunto conclui-se que o erro da estimativa de perda esperada do modelo conjunto foi menor. Não se pode afirmar que o menor erro na estimativa de perda se deve a correlação entre a PD e LGD, porém ao modelar os parâmetros conjuntamente, retira-se essa forte pressuposição.

The goal of the Master`s thesis is the credit risk analysis of existing corporation done from the point of view of a fictitious multinational corporation which operates in petrochemical business. At first, it deals with general definition of credit risk, tools for its management and methods for its elimination. Later, in the analytical section on an example of concrete model from practice modern trends in credit risk management are demonstrated, potential obstacles are analyzed and the most frequent problems with its application are noted. The main asset of the thesis is a comprehensive introduction of actual credit risk management system supplemented with own observations and experience. The outcome is an educational material for people with interest in given topic as well as for professionals in the field of credit risk management.