The Risk Management Association (RMA), in alliance with Automated
Financial Systems, Inc. (AFS), this week released its commercial
credit risk benchmarking data updated through third quarter 2007. The
third quarter results reflect portfolio data for middle market
exposure provided by 16 top tier participating institutions, estimated
to represent over one-half of all middle market commercial loans in
the U.S.
Non-accrual loans in the middle market began to rise over one year
ago and now represent 0.56% of total loans outstanding. This figure
represents a 47% increase from year-end 2006. From an industry
perspective, the construction sector was particularly weak, with 1.21%
of loans being reported as non-accruing, up over 150% from year-end
2006. Delinquencies in the 30-89 day bucket for this sector have risen
to 1.45%, suggesting non-accrual levels will continue to rise in
upcoming quarters. Other industry segments reporting non-accrual
levels significantly above the national average were Agriculture
(0.80%) and Retail Trade (0.78%).
"The Risk Analysis Service data continues to confirm what we are
hearing in the market. Borrower risk ratings are increasing, as are
defaults. Delinquencies and non-accrual levels are rising,
necessitating increased bad debt provisioning. Banks may face
increased earnings pressures due to escalating credit issues, which
are clearly migrating from retail forms of credit to commercial
lending products and related lines of business," said Kevin Blakely,
RMA president and CEO.
These findings come from the RMA/AFS Risk Analysis Service, a
global credit risk data collection service that enables participating
banks to compare their respective risk profiles in defined portfolio
segments to industry peers and the industry as a whole. The Service
allows participants to gain real-time insights into changing credit
quality, portfolio concentrations, and answers the critical question
of "How do we compare?" in these turbulent times.
The Risk Analysis Service has available four years of risk data on
the U.S. commercial lending market. With escalating credit issues, it
is becoming critical for financial institutions to have access to
current data on market performance. One important use of the Service
data is in setting the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses.
Third quarter 2007 reporting includes the Service´s latest
enhancement, expanded risk rating metrics. Institutions are now able
to segment their portfolios by measures of default probability,
projected loss severity or loss given default, and expected loss.
These metrics are mandated by Basel II and are part of an effective
risk management program.
For additional information on the Risk Analysis Service, please
contact Suzanne Wharton at RMA at +1 (215) 446-4089 or Doug Skinner at
AFS at +1 (484) 875-1562.
About RMA
Founded in 1914, The Risk Management Association is a
not-for-profit, member-driven professional association whose sole
purpose is to advance the use of sound risk principles in the
financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise-wide approach
to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and
operational risk. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa., RMA has 3,000
institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as
nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the
Association by 20,000 risk management professionals who are chapter
members in financial centers throughout North America, Europe, and
Asia/Pacific. Visit RMA on the Web at www.rmahq.org.
About AFS
Automated Financial Systems, Inc. (AFS) is an information
technology and software development company providing products and
professional services exclusively to the financial services industry.
Its mission is to work with forward-looking financial institutions to
build the industry-leading global franchise for lending processes
based on a straight-through processing model and on-demand technology
and services. AFS assists clients by combining the lending
applications, execution expertise, and management information to
mitigate risk, reduce costs, and increase revenue. The firm is
headquartered in Exton, Pa.; its European subsidiary, Automated
Financial Systems GmbH, is located in Vienna, Austria. For further
information, visit the AFS Web site at www.afsvision.com.
