Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, vol.5, no.

5, 2015, 201-216
ISSN: 1792-6580 (print version), 1792-6599 (online)
Scienpress Ltd, 2015

Rating models and its Applications:

Setting Credit Limits

Mehdi Bazzi1 and Chamlal Hasna2

Abstract
In regulatory and competitive environments increasingly tight, banks
have been forced to constantly improve their internal rating models.
Despite the increased supply models and statistical approaches that
has been proposed to them, the answer to the question: how much to
lend ? remains always at the discretion of the credit risk manager. The
aim of this paper is to propose a statistical approach that allows an es-
timation of the maximum facility bank overdraft (limits) that the credit
risk manager may allow coorporate and to identify the determinants of
this limits.

Keywords: Rating models; Risk Management; Basel II; Credit limits

1 Introduction
This is the text of the introduction. A rating model is defined as the assign-
1
Laboratory of Computer Science Decision Aiding,Faculty of Science Ain chock,
Casablanca, Morocco. E-mail: [email protected]
2
Laboratory of Computer Science Decision Aiding,Faculty of Science Ain chock,
Casablanca, Morocco. E-mail: [email protected]

Article Info: Received : May 2, 2015. Revised : June 27, 2015

Published online : September 1, 2015
202 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

ment of quantitative measure to a potential borrower to provide an estimation

of its capacity to repay a loan Feldman [1]. Given that the commercial banks
withdraw the major part of their profit business from loans, they are very in-
terested in the statistical rating models. The works of Altman [2] show that
the developpment of an internal rating model with high discriminating power
is indeed possible. His model was efficient, based on a limited number of finan-
cial ratios and provide an imediate response to the credit decision. Henceforth,
banks have begun to develop their own rating models.
The accuracy of the model is crucial for the banks that use them (see Figure
1).

Figure 1: The rating models use test

First, rating model helps the credit risk manager to take a decision on the
loan application and proposes a pricing Canabarro[3] which corespond to the
real risk of the borrower. Thus, the probability of default (PD) in the bank
would depend largely on the accuracy of this model. Second, a good rating
model would optimize the regulatory capital and the bank’s investment would
go into the most profitable projects in total respect of Regulatory constraints
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 203

imposed by the Advanced Approach (IRBA) of Basel rules [4]. Finally, a

better measure of the risk would allow bank managers to make more informed
decisions about the renewal of loans and the use of derivates products for
hedging purposes.
One of the largest applications of the rating models is the setting of credit
limits which is the main focus of this paper. Credit Limits are threshold that
a credit risk manager will allow borrower to owe at any time without having to
go back and review their credit file. We modelize this amount on the basis of a
credit history requests granted by the senior banker through expert approach.
The second section will give an overview of experts’ methods used by credit
risk managers to detect the maximum amount that the bank is willing to risk
in an account. We also highlight the advantage and the drawbacks of the
various approaches. In the section 3 we will propose a statistical approach
which gives a direct answer to the question: how much to lend?. The followed
section will presents the results of our studies and their intepretation and after
that we will finish by the conclusion.

2 Expert Approach of setting Credit Limits

The executive committee authorises the sale management to engage bank
funds on a given borrower for a certain amount of loan and not beyond. The
risk manager has the mission to determine this amount (limit) according to the
credit management process used in the bank. The methods used to set credit
limits are many, infinitely varied , using a particular set of ratios, introducing
or not qualitative parameters, but they have one point in common: the lack
of theoretical justifications. In this section we present an overview of three
methods : Expected profit method, Profit indicator method and risk point
(classes) aproach.

2.1 Expected profit method

In Abtey [5] the author proposes a decision rule in which the amount of
loans to be granted to the borrower must be less than or equal to what the
bank hopes to win in a given period. Therefore, the optimum exposure is
204 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

determined here, over a period, compared to the forcast turnover so that the
potential loss is less than the expected profit.
The elements to be considered are:

• tm the company’s margin defined under the analytical accounting

• PD the probability of default of the borrower

• CAp the forcast turnover to achieve by the the borrower in a given

period

The expected profit during the period is equal to: CAp *tm
The potential loss is: E*PD*(1-tm ) from where CAp *tm > E*PD*(1-tm )
The left side of formula (CAp *tm ) represents the expected profit: actually,forecast
turnover is by definition an uncertain element. Using this formula,the com-
pany is betting that the borrower will achieve a turnover of at least equal to
forecasts and it will not be on default situation during the period of the loan.
The decision Rule:
CAp tm
E≤
P D(1 − tm )
Example:: PD=0.3 , tm =0.2 and CAp = 2 000 kMAD
2000 ∗ 0.2
E< =⇒ E < 1 667 kM AD
0.3 ∗ (1 − 0.2)

The risk is not negligible and the author recommends to apply this method
in the case of regular borrowers of the bank on which there are reliable and
avaible information.
The author also emphasizes the importance of personal relationships with
important clients and consequently it is often difficult to refuse a deferred
payment to a well known client. In addition, the author notes that for very
low probability of default (close to zero) the optimum amount (limits) becomes
very important. Therefore, the amount of loan must be delimited by forcast
turnover or another maximum amount proposed by the credit risk manager.
Consequently:

E ∗ < CAp or E ∗ < Max

However, In the case where the probability of default (PD) is high,this formula
allows the setting a cerdit limit, even if the amount is low relative to the
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 205

forecast turnover. The company is betting so that the borrower will not go
bankrupt before payment of the loan.

2.2 Profitability indicators method

The starting point of the second methodology involves to identify the po-
tentiel profit of the bank on each loan. In Dionne [6] the authors calculated
the bank expected profit for one borrower given his probability of default PD:

E(prof it) = D(r − µ) − P D E1 (c1 ) − (1 − P D) E0 (c0 ) − P D L(1 + r)LGD

where L is the amount of loan, r the interest rate, µ the alternative placement
rate, c0 is the administrative cost linked to non-payment by a borrower who
fails, c1 is the administrative cost related to non-payment by a customer who
did not fail on default and LGD is the loss given default Altman [7]. The
maximum amount (Limit) that the bank is willing to risk in an account is the
solution L∗ of this linear program:

L∗i ∈ arg maxL (r − µ) Li − P Di Li (1 + r) LGDi s.c. Li >= 0

s.c √
−1
− ρ ∗ N −1 (0.99)

 Li ∗ LGD ∗ N ( N (P Di ) √

) <= V ARi
1−ρ

 L >0 i

where
Li is the amount of credit required by the borrower.
N −1 The Inverse of the Normal Cumulative Distribution
V ARi Jorion [8] means the value at risk and it represent the largest loss likely
to be suffering regarding the borrower i over a holding period (usually 1 to 10
days) with a given probability (confidence level).
The model elaborated above allows to calculate the optimal amount to lend,
which will maximize the profit of the bank without exceding the expected losses
(VaR).
However, this model is limited because it relies solely on calculating the
optimal amount of each loan to the PD. Indeed, there are other quantita-
tive parameters (Turnover, stock...) and qualitative (sector, Apartenance to a
206 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

strong group or not) to take into consideration in the model and which could
not be used in the estimation of the PD.

2.3 The risk points method

The method of risk points consists of mixing between the quantitative data
as the information in balance sheet and qualitaive information like the quality
of management and other criteria about the borrower in order to:
• give a complete picture of the borrowers concerned,

• evaluate more accurately the risk profil.

This determination is particularly important because it sets the credit limits.
Thus, the combination of qualitative and quantitative criteria (Figure 2) seems
to be the best way to evaluate the borrowers risk.
To use the risk point method the credit risk manager must receive enough
information to make both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
There are many ways to use the risk points (classes) method, but the most
famous is the method by credit scoring Thomas [9].

Figure 2: Using quantitative and qualitative data

After calculating the score, the credit risk manager determines a number
of cutt-off. Thus, the latter correspond to the decision granting credit limits
(on % of the turnover) and other rules like warranty.
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 207

Various methods were presented in this section, they depend mainly on the
probability of default (PD) and after we deduce indirectly the credit limits. In
the following section we propose an empirical method to modelise directly the
credit limit.

3 Credit Limits modeling

Despite the proliferation of approaches to build internal rating models they
only provide a quantification of the level of risk of the borrower, but they don’t
provide any indication regarding the amount that this later could possibly
repay.
Relying solely on PD to determine the amount to lend would not be a best
approach. In Carboni [10] the author showed that the risk score for retail
exposures (developped according to a scoring model of a Canadian bank) is
more an indicator of delinquency then an indicator of repayment capacity.
Our research is the first statistical study in which a model of a credit limit
management that responds to the question: how much to lend? is proposed.
Our approach aim is to modelize this amount on the basis of a history of credit
applications already confirmed by an expert approach.

3.1 Dataset Description

The database used in this study cames exlusively from a financial institu-
tion that has worked with us on this project. It includes data on a corporate
samples that have requested facilities between January 1st 2013 and Decem-
ber 2013. Inputs on which Credit risk managers are based themselves to give
the agreement is entered one year ago so as to keep an interval of at least
12 months between the request dates and the dates in which the information
about the borrower were collected.
We describe in Table below the variables used in the empirical studies in
order to setting credit limits. There are three kinds of variables:

• Financial variables

• behavior variables
208 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

• Dependent variable or variable to predict.

Financial Ratio Risk factor

Total Liabilities / Total assets Leverage
Interest / Turnover Leverage
Equity / Total assets Leverage
Long term Debt / Total assets Leverage
Total Debt / Total assets Leverage
Total Debt / Current assets Leverage
Total Debt / (Total assets - Total Debt) Leverage
Total Debt / Total Liabilities Leverage
Current assets / Current Liabilities Liquidity
Working capital / Total assets Liquidity
Need Working capital / Working capital Liquidity
Current Liabilities / Total assets Liquidity
Cash / Current Liability Liquidity
Working capital / Current Liabilities Liquidity
(Current Assets - Stocks)/ Current Liability Liquidity
Net Income / Total Asstes Profitability
Net Income / Total Asstes Profitability
Net Income / Equity (ROE) Profitability
Net Income / Turnover Profitability
EBIT / Total Assets Profitability
Stock / (Turnover/ 360) Activity
Stock / Total Assets Activity
Acount Receivable / Total Assets Activity
Acount Receivable / Turnover Activity
Acount Receivable / Total Liabilities Activity
Turnover / Total Assets Activity
Annual average balance behavior
Annual credit balance behavior
Annual debit balance behavior
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 209

Dependent variable description

Given the little study on our subject, we were obliged to approach the
experts to understand how they do to grant given amount of loan.
Relating to setting credit limit, the credit risk managers reproduce meth-
ods and operational processes created by their predecessors, and they try to
improve them over time.
After several workshop with the experts, we found that to answer the ques-
tion how much to lend, the dependent variable can be:

• Autorization [N]: The amount of loan (MAD)request by the borrower

the year N

• Autorization[N] / Turnover [N-1] : the part of the authorization in

Turnover perfomed by the borrower in the last year.

• Autorization [N] / (Turnover [N-1]/ 360):the number of days turnover

perfomed by the borrower in the last year.

The choice of the dependent variable determines the statistical aproach to per-
from. After several simulations, we chosed the second alternative because it
presents some properties in line with the assumption of the Beta distribution
Ferrari [11] like the support of the distribution (the dependent variable com-
prised between 0% and 100% of turnover), which can be easly conversed to
normally distribution.
To create an approximately normally distributed dependent variable from
the raw observations of target (Autorization [N] / Turnover [N- 1]), we first
confirmed that this later were approximately Beta distributed (Figure 2).
Beta distributions are described in this case by an upper and lower bound
and by two shape parameters, α and β. They are usually bounded between
zero and one, where the mean can be any value strictly within this range.
The conversion of the Beta distributed target values to a more normally
distribution dependent variable is explicitly defined as follows:

Dependentvariable = Y = N −1 [Betadist(T arget, α, β, M in, M ax)

where
Target = Autorization [N] / Turnover[N-1]
N −1 The Inverse of the Normal Cumulative Distribution
210 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

Figure 3: Fitted Beta Normalised

α= The beta distribution’s parameter

β = The beta distribution’s shape parameter
Min= Minimum value of the target
Max=Maximum value of the value
The Figure 3 shows the shap of the distribution after conversion:

Figure 4: Normally distributed dependent variable

3.2 Detection of the most discriminating variables

To do our research, we have prepared a wide enough selection variable.
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 211

From this selection, we created ratios and interaction terms to expand again
( see table above). Our goal was to find a model that meets the following
criteria:

• Parsimony: A model should contain a small number of variables. We set

12 variables as maximum.

• Performance: The selected variables should have a strong combined pre-

dicting power and satisfy the statistical tests at this level.

• Significance: The selected variables taken individually or the model as a

whole had to be statistically significant

• Interpretability: The selected variables have to present different risk fac-

tors, little correlation between them and have signs which allow valid
economic interpretation.

With over 50 potential variables, the number of possible models exceeded

the billiard 1015 . In order to meet the selection criteria in the best possible way,
we have used our judgment and certain automated selection process (Figure
4).

Figure 5: Selection variable process

First, we eliminated the variables which have little explanatory power. The
indicator used to measure the predictif power is the coefficient of determination
Saporta [12]:
(ybi − ȳi )2 bi )2
P P
2 i i (yi − y
R = P 2
=1− P 2
i (yi − ȳi ) i (yi − ȳi )
212 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

P
y
with ȳi the predictif value of yi and ȳi = ni i . This represents the part
explained by the regression to the sum of squares of the deviations from the
mean. More generally, R2 is the square of the Pearson correlation coefficient
of Y with its prediction ybi (in other word, its projection on the regression line).
In all cases, R2 ranges from 0 to 1 and the fit improves as R2 approaches 1.
Once we were able to select a set of variables with a pretty good explana-
tory power (Medium list), we eliminated those showed colinearity with other
variables. The indicator used to measure the degree of correlation between the
variables is the coefficient of Spearman Kendall [13]. The Spearman correla-
tion coefficient is a measure of association between two variables, numerical or
alphanumeric. It can vary between -1 (when the variables are completely dis-
cordant) and 1 (when the variables are completely concordant). The indicator
is calculated using the following formula:
6 j Di2
P
ρs = 1 −
N (N 2 − 1)
where Di = ri − si is the difference of ranks (ri , si are respectively the rank
of the first and second variable of the iiem observation).
Finally, we have the short list on which we are based to build model. To
do this, we use the multiple linear regression with stepwise as methods of
selection that ensures compliance with the characteristic that distinguishes a
good model:

• parcimony of the variables number

• good explanatory power of the variables that go into the model as mea-
sured by the reduction of the residual sum of squares in the inclusion of
the variable in the model.

The following equation gives the model selected by the regression.

Autorization
(%) = 1.35 + 0.06 R1 − 0.03 R2 + 0.16 R3 + 0.32 R4 + 0.9 R5.
T urnover
with
R1: Net Income/Total Assets
R2: Interest/ Turnover
R3: Need Working capital / Working capital
R4: Stock * 360 / Turnover
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 213

R5: Aberage balance

We can group the five variables selected by the model in order to determine
the credit limits in three topic:

• Profitability :
The profitability of the borrower is a major condition for its long term
survival. R1 measures how many cents the company can generate each
MAD invested in its assets.

• Leverage :
Show the capacity of the borrower to honor its debt. The ratio selected
by the model measures the part of financial charge in the turnover. the
higher the ratio, the less the bank must risk with the borrower.

• Liquidity :
Liquidity ratios measures the borrower’s ability to meet its short-term
financial obligations. The model selected three ratios:

– Need Working capital / Working capital

– Average balance

• Activity:
Activity ratios are used to measure the relative efficiency of a firm based
on its use of its assets. The ratio selected is Stock * 360 / Turnover and
measures the stock in days of turnover.

the coefficient of determination (R2 ) is 70%. It means that the credit limit
predicted by the model described above fit well the amount allowed by the
credit risk manager in 70 % of the cases.

How can we improve the result?

After having modeled the amount authorized of facility with statistical
approach, we adjust the credit limits by the rating classes obtained by the
internal rating model. Thus, the credit limit model will be in line with the
credit management process used in the bank.
214 Rating models and its Applications: Setting Credit Limits

Rating Credit New Old

class quality Client Client
A Extremely strong 50% of Equity 100% of Expected profit
B Very strong 50% of Equity 100% of Expected profit
C strong 40% of Equity 80% of Expected profit
D strong 30% of Equity 60% of Expected profit
E Adequate 25% of Equity 40% of Expected profit
F Medium 25% of Equity 30% of Expected profit
G bad 25% of Equity 25% of Expected profit
H Very close to default 25% of Equity Limit=0
or in default

Two ideas are generally accepted:

If the borrower is a new client, it is considered that the bank should never
risk more than what the borrower have put themselves in the business. For
old borrower, bank must not risk more than the expected profit (CAp *tm )
achieved last exercise.

4 Conclusion
In first part, various methods to set a credit limits were presented but it is
difficult to say that one method is better than another. Indeed, granting of a
credit limit by the credit risk manager to a borrower depends on the specific
opportunities of the bank, on the risk of the borrowers and on the bank’s
strategy towards certain sector.
The second part is distinguished by being the first empirical study in which
the credit limit is estimated directly and not deduced through the PD.
To achieve our goals, we had to go through certain steps , explore various
paths that help us to reveal several empirical evidence along the way.
After cleaning our database, we created a multitude of financial ratios most
frequently used in the literature Hayden [14]. The objective here was to have
of enough variables in order to develop credit limits model.
After exploring over fifty variables, worning selection techniques Automatic
Mehdi Bazzi and Chamlal Hasna 215

and using our judgment, we identified model that meet our four objectives:
Parsimony, Performance, Significance, Interpretability.

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