Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: p. 60-61.

The three chapters of my dissertation study the effect of access to credit on economic volatility and welfare, and the implications for policy. Chapter 1 presents a unified framework to analyze debt relief and macroprudential policies in a liquidity trap when households have private information. I develop a model with a deleveraging-driven recession and a liquidity trap in which households differ in their impatience, which is unobservable. Ex post debt relief stimulates the economy, but anticipated debt relief encourages overborrowing ex ante, making savers worse off. Macroprudential taxes and debt limits prevent the recession, but can harm impatient households, since the planner cannot directly identify and compensate them. I solve for optimal policy, subject to the incentive constraints imposed by private information. Optimal allocations can be implemented either by providing debt relief to moderate borrowers up to a maximum level, combined with a marginal tax on debt above the cap, or with ex ante macroprudential policy - a targeted loan support program, combined with a tax on excessive borrowing. These policies are ex ante Pareto improving in a liquidity trap; in normal times, however, they are purely redistributive. These results extend to economies with aggregate uncertainty, alternative sources of heterogeneity, and endogenous labor supply. The second chapter of my dissertation presents a theoretical framework to understand sovereign debt crises in a monetary union and the optimal policy response to these crises. The risk of default encourages indebted countries to pay down their short term debt, depressing consumption demand throughout the union. This fall in demand can cause the monetary union to hit the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates, leading to a union-wide recession. I evaluate three policies to prevent such a recession: debt relief, which writes off a portion of short term debt; lending policy, which allows indebted countries to issue new debt at above-market prices; and debt postponement, which converts short into long term debt. I show that if countries can be prevented from retrading in secondary markets after debt restructuring, all three policies are equivalent, and are welfare improving. If retrading is possible, lending policy and debt postponement are superior to debt relief. The final chapter of my dissertation evaluates the impact of increased income uncertainty and financial liberalization in the US on consumption volatility and welfare at the household level. In this joint work with Olga Gorbachev, we estimate Euler equations using consumption data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and measure the volatility of unpredictable changes in consumption as the squared residuals. We directly control for liquidity constraints using data on access to credit from the Survey of Consumer Finances, and document that despite the increase in household debt between 1983 and 2007, there was no decline in the proportion of liquidity constrained households. Consumption volatility increased significantly over this period, especially for liquidity constrained households, indicating substantial welfare losses.

by Hui Tung-Ying, Tai Shun-Fu. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. / APPROVAL --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / PREFACE --- p.viii / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT --- p.5 / Market Profile Analysis --- p.5 / Economic Environment --- p.5 / Demographic Environment --- p.17 / Socio-cultural Environment --- p.21 / Political & Legal Environment --- p.22 / Regulator --- p.23 / Technological Environment --- p.25 / Customer Profile Analysis --- p.31 / Company Profile Analysis --- p.33 / Product Profile Analysis --- p.36 / Competition Profile Analysis --- p.40 / Chapter III. --- MARKETING OBJECTIVES --- p.44 / Product Objective and Strategy --- p.47 / Existing Situation in HK --- p.47 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in HK --- p.52 / Existing Situation in PRC --- p.54 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in PRC --- p.56 / Pricing Objective and Strategy --- p.58 / Existing Situation in HK --- p.58 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in HK --- p.61 / Existing Situation in PRC --- p.63 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in PRC --- p.64 / Promotion Objective and Strategy --- p.65 / Existing Situation in HK --- p.65 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in HK --- p.68 / Existing Situation in PRC --- p.70 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in PRC --- p.71 / Distribution Objective and Strategy --- p.73 / Existing Situation in HK --- p.73 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in HK --- p.75 / Existing Situation in PRC --- p.77 / Recommended Objectives and Strategies in PRC --- p.78 / Chapter IV. --- TACTICAL ACTION PLAN --- p.79 / Product --- p.79 / Pricing --- p.81 / Promotion --- p.82 / Distribution --- p.84 / Chapter V. --- BUDGET --- p.85 / Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSION --- p.86

A credit union is a self-help financial co-operative where people, who are united by a Common Bond, agree to save money together and, to make loans to one another at low rates of interest. The common bond is the most important characteristic of a credit union because credit unions are founded on trust and unless members already have something in common, they have no basis for trusting one another. The purpose of the common bond is to protect members' interests and members' funds. It also fosters a spirit commitment and co-operation.

Credit derivatives are among the most criticized financial instruments in the current credit crises. Given their short history, finance professionals are still researching to discover effective ways to reduce the mark-to-market (MTM) volatility in credit derivatives, especially in turbulent market conditions. Many credit portfolios have been struggling to find out appropriate tools and techniques to help them navigate the current credit crises and hedge mark-to-market volatility in their portfolios. In this study we provide a tool kit to help reduce the pricing fluctuations in structured credit portfolios utilizing data analysis and statistical methods. In Chapter One we provide a snapshot of credit derivatives market by summarizing different types of credit derivatives; including single-name credit default swaps (CDS), market credit indices, bespoke portfolios, market index tranches, and bespoke tranches (synthetic CDOs). In Chapter Two we illustrate a method to calculate a stable hedge ratio (beta) by combining industry practices and statistical techniques. Choosing an appropriate hedge ratio is critical for funds that desire to hedge mark-to-market volatility. Many credit portfolios suffered 40%-80% market value losses in 2008 and 2009 due to the mark-to-market volatility in their long positions. In this chapter we introduce ten different betas in order to hedge a long bespoke portfolio by liquid market indices. We measure the effectives of these betas by two measures: Stability and mark-to-market volatility reduction. Among all betas we present, we deduct that the following betas are appropriate to be used as hedge ratios: Implied Beta, Quarterly Regression Beta on Spread Levels, Yearly Regression Betas on Spread Levels, Up Beta, and Down Beta. In Chapter Three we analyze the risk factors that impact the MTM volatility in CDS tranches; namely Spread Risk, Correlation Risk, Dispersion Risk, and Curve Risk. We focus our analysis in explaining the risks in the equity tranche as this is the riskiest tranche in the capital structure. We show that all four risks introduced are critical in explaining MTM volatility in equity tranches. We also perform multiple regression analysis to show the correlations between different risk factors. We show that, when combined, spread, correlation, and dispersion risks are the most important risk factors in analyzing MTM fluctuations in equity tranche. Curve risk can be used as an add-on risk to further explain local instances. After understanding various risk factors that impact the MTM changes in equity tranche, we put this knowledge to work to analyze two instances in 2008 in which we experienced significant spread widening in equity tranche. Both examples show that a good understanding of the risks that drive MTM changes in CDS tranches is critical in making informed trading decisions. In Chapter Four we focus on two topics: Portfolio Stratification and Index Selection. While portfolio stratification helps us better understand the composition of a portfolio, index selection shows us which indices are more suitable in hedging long bespoke positions. In stratifying a portfolio we define Class-A as the widest credits, Class-B as the middle tier, and Class-C as the tightest credits in a credit portfolio. By portfolio stratification we show that Class-A has significant impact on the overall portfolio. We use five different risk measures to analyze different properties of the three classes we introduce. The risk measures are Sum of Spreads (SOS), Sigma/Mu, Basis Point Volatility (BPVOL), Skewness, and Kurtosis. For all risk measures we show that there is high correlation between Class-A and the whole portfolio. We also show that it is critical to monitor the risks in Class-A to better understand the spread moves in the overall portfolio. In the second part of Chapter Four, we perform analysis to find out which credit index should be used in hedging a long bespoke portfolio. We compare four credit indices for their ability to track the bespoke portfolio on spread levels and on spread changes. Analysis show that CDX.HY and CDX IG indices fits the best to hedge our sample bespoke portfolio in terms of spread levels and spread changes, respectively. Finally, we perform multiple regression analysis using backward selection, forward selection, and stepwise regression methods to find out if we should use multiple indices in our hedging practices. Multiple regression analysis show that CDX.HY and CDX.IG are the best candidates to hedge the sample bespoke portfolio we introduced.

<p>Nedgångar i världsekonomin med påföljande likviditetsproblem hos företag har medfört negativa konsekvenser för banker, vilket skapade behov av effektiv kreditriskhantering. För att förhindra stora kreditförluster försöker banker ständigt minimera sina risker vid kreditgivning genom att identifiera fallgropar.</p><p>Syftet är att undersöka vilka faktorer som bidrar till kreditförluster och belysa hur Nordea kan minimera risker vid kreditgivning utifrån dessa faktorer.</p><p>Datainsamling skedde via granskning av litteratur och en fallstudie. Studieobjektet var affärsbanken Nordea där det genomfördes flera intervjuer med kreditansvariga på en regional nivå. För att ta reda på utvecklingen av kreditvolym inom Sverige sammanställdes data utifrån kreditgivningsstatistik från Nordea Hypotek AB.</p><p>Enligt teorin är kreditförluster beroende av direkta och indirekta faktorer. Medan de direkta faktorerna kan påverkas av en kreditanalytiker ligger de indirekta faktorer utanför dennes inflytande. Det kan konstateras att Nordea har lyckats minimera kreditrisker i avsevärd grad med reservation för vissa förbättringar och att de faktorer som förorsakar förluster har banken klarat av att hålla under kontroll.</p><p>Bankens grundläggande strategi i riskhanteringen är att använda sig av förnuftig kreditgivning. Samtliga respondenter har betonat vikten av att göra grundliga utredningar vid nya kreditansökningar samt frekventa uppföljningar vid en föraning på betalsvårigheter hos befintliga kredittagare. Genom dessa rutiner kan banken fånga upp problematiska affärstransaktioner och förebygga uppkomsten av kreditförluster.</p> / <p>Turbulence in the world economy with following liquidity problem in enterprises has lead to negative consequences for banks that creates a need for effective credit risk management. To prevent significant credit losses, banks tries constantly to minimize their risks in credit granting through identifying pitfalls.</p><p>The purpose is to investigate the factors that contribute to the credit losses and illustrate how Nordea can minimize risks in credit granting.</p><p>Data were gathered from the literature review and a case study. The object of study is the Swedish Business Bank Nordea where several credit managers has been interviewed at the regional level. To obtain a volume of credit development in Sweden, gathered the credit granting statistics of the source of Nordea Hypotek AB.</p><p>According to the theory credit losses are depending on direct and indirect factors. While direct factors can be affected by a credit analyst, indirect factors are outside of his influence. It can be stated that Nordea has been succeed in minimizing of risks at the considerable degree, with reservation for some improvements, and that some factors that cause losses the bank manage to keep under control.</p><p>Bank´s fundamental strategy in risk management is to use reasonable credit granting. All of respondents have stressed the importance of thorough inquiry on new credit application and frequent following up suspicions of payment difficulties with existing borrowers. Through these routines can bank capture problematic business transactions and prevent appearance of credit losses.</p>

<p><p><strong>Background:</strong></p><p>If a company does not have an optimal model for credit portfolio management they can face difficulties if they cannot forecast how the credit portfolio will behave during recessions. It can be explained with the fact that the management for the company might ask how the department forecasts a probable default within the credit portfolio. The senior management might want to know how the management for the credit portfolio measures how big credit losses can become. They might also want to know how it is possible to reduce the risk of big credit losses. The key factor in this type of questions is how it is possible for a company to forecast a default.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Purpose: </strong></p><p>Our purpose is to make a pilot study where we bring out the components that are necessary for the creative of an optimal model that is applicable on Sandvik’s credit portfolio.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Method: </strong></p><p>For the collection of empirical data, we used a qualitative method. The qualitative method was based on interviews with respondents from Scania Financial Services, Volvo CE International and Swedbank. In addition, we had discussions with our “employer” Sandvik about their credit portfolio management. We analyzed the empirically gathered data with a hermeneutic perspective.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong>                  </p><p>Sandvik has a credit portfolio with many small companies which imply that it is a high risk portfolio. For that reason we brought out components that are necessary for their credit portfolio. The components we brought out were by a comparison between the theory and our cases. The components are following: parameters within country assessment, customer’s customer, payment history and payment behavior, judgement of customer’s management, utterances from the management, investment plans, cash flow analysis, stable earnings, key performance indicators, profitability, future forecasts, balance sheet analysis, legal situation, business expertise and securities.</p>

This study examined graduate international students' knowledge, attitudes, experiences, practices, and satisfaction relating to credit cards. Based on the literature, international students attending U.S. colleges and universities were considered an important population to study because of: (1) internationalization of credit cards and (2) the lack of credit card research on this group. The sample was selected from graduate international students attending Colorado State University. A questionnaire was mailed to 623 students during Summer, 1992. Completed questionnaires were returned by 261 students (46.2 percent response rate). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, correlation analyses, and canonical correlation analyses. Findings showed that respondents' credit card knowledge was low, attitudes were favorable, and pre-U.S. experiences limited. Since living in the U.S., respondents had become regular users with a mean of 3.3 cards and a majority charging more than $200 per month. They followed commonly recommended practices, and eight of ten were satisfied with their credit card use. Several statistically significant relationships were found among the credit card variables, and between these variables and socio-demographic characteristics such as country of origin and length of U.S. residency. A conceptual model was also tested, showing that experiences influenced practices, which in turn influenced satisfaction. Implications and research recommendations were developed for international students, credit card issuers, providers of credit card education, and researchers. Based on credit card needs of international students, card qualifications and education programs should be developed and evaluated. / Graduation date: 1993 / Figures in original document are black and white photocopies. Best scan available.

Thesis, LLM--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.