Credit's worthy start

Top-tier banks in South Africa are making some headway in their quest to move towards a more formal, integrated approach to credit portfolio management. While the credit derivatives market certainly needs further development, securitisation is establishing itself as an important tool. By Clive Davidson

Major banks in South Africa are experimenting to find the most appropriate credit portfolio management approach for their particular businesses. The practice, which is now commonplace at medium-sized and larger banks in the US, Europe and beyond, involves measuring and managing exposures arising from loans, bonds and other forms of credit risk as a portfolio. Often overturning traditional notions of how credit and counterparty risk should be handled, credit portfolio management's introduction