Credit rating prediction using Ant Colony Optimization

The introduction of the Basel II Capital Accord has encouraged financial institutions to build internal rating systems assessing the credit risk of their various credit portfolios. One of the key outputs of an internal rating system is the probability of default (PD), which reflects the likelihood that a counterparty will default on his/her financial obligation. Since the PD modelling problem basically boils down to a discrimination problem (defaulter or not), one may rely on the myriad of classification techniques that have been suggested in the literature. However, since the credit risk models will be subject to supervisory review and evaluation, they must be easy to understand and transparent. Hence, techniques such as neural networks or support vector machines are less suitable due to their black box nature. Building upon previous research, we will use AntMiner+ to build internal rating systems for credit risk. AntMiner+ allows to infer a propositional rule set from a given data set, hereby using the principles from Ant Colony Optimization. Experiments will be conducted using various types of credit data sets (retail, small- and medium-sized enterprises and banks). It will be shown that the extracted rule sets are both powerful in terms of discriminatory power and comprehensibility. Furthermore, a framework will be presented describing how AntMiner+ fits into a global Basel II credit risk management system.     

Structural models in consumer credit

We propose a structural credit risk model for consumer lending using option theory and the concept of the value of the consumer’s reputation. Using Brazilian empirical data and a credit bureau score as proxy for creditworthiness we compare a number of alternative models before suggesting one that leads to a simple analytical solution for the probability of default. We apply the proposed model to portfolios of consumer loans introducing a factor to account for the mean influence of systemic economic factors on individuals. This results in a hybrid structural-reduced-form model. And comparisons are made with the Basel II approach. Our conclusions partially support that approach for modelling the credit risk of portfolios of retail credit.     

A generic framework for stochastic Loss-Given-Default

In this document a method is discussed to incorporate stochastic Loss-Given-Default (LGD) in factor models, i.e. structural models for credit risk. The general idea exhibited in this text is to introduce a common dependence of the LGD and the probability of default (PD) on a latent variable, representing the systemic risk. Though our theory can be applied to any arbitrary firm-value model and any underlying distribution for the LGD, provided its support is a compact subset of [0,1], special attention is given to the extension of the well-known cases of the Gaussian copula framework and the shifted Gamma one-factor model (a particular case of the generic one-factor Lévy model), and the LGD is modeled by a Beta distribution, in accordance with rating agency models and the Credit Metrics model.In order to introduce stochastic LGD, a monotonically decreasing relation is derived between the loss rate L, i.e. the loss as a percentage of the total exposure, and the standardized log-return R of the obligor’s asset value, which is assumed to be a function of one or more systematic and idiosyncratic risk factors. The property that the relation is decreasing guarantees that the LGD is negatively correlated to R and hence positively correlated to the default rate. From this relation, expressions are then derived for the cumulative distribution function (CDF) and the expected value of the loss rate and the LGD, conditionally on a realization of the systematic risk factor(s). It is important to remark that all our results are derived under the large homogeneous portfolio (LHP) assumption and that they are fully consistent with the IRB approach outlined by the Basel II Capital Accord.We will demonstrate the impact of incorporating stochastic LGD and using models based on skew and fat-tailed distributions in determining adequate capital requirements. Furthermore, we also skim the potential application of the proposed framework in a credit risk environment. It will turn out that both building blocks, i.e. stochastic LGD and fat-tailed distributions, separately, increase the projected loss and thus the required capital charge. Hence, the aggregation of a model based on a fat-tailed underlying distribution that accounts for stochastic LGD will lead to sound capital requirements.     

The development of a simple and intuitive rating system under Solvency II

Regulatory authorities pay considerable attention to setting minimum capital levels for different kinds of financial institutions. Solvency II, the European Commission’s planned reform of the regulation of insurance companies is well underway. One of its consequences will be a shift in focus to internally based models in determining the regulatory capital needed to cover unexpected losses. This evolution emphasises the importance of credit risk assessment through internal ratings. In light of this new prudential regulation, this paper suggests a Basel II compliant approach to predicting credit ratings for non-rated corporations and evaluates its performance compared to external ratings. The paper provides an interesting modelling of non-financial European companies rated by S&P. In developing the model, broad applicability is set as an important boundary condition. Even though the model developed is fairly simple and maintains a high level of granularity, it gives high rates of accuracy and is very interpretable.     

Type II Matrices and Their Bose-Mesner Algebras

Type II matrices were introduced in connection with spin models for link invariants. It is known that a pair of Bose-Mesner algebras (called a dual pair) of commutative association schemes are naturally associated with each type II matrix. In this paper, we show that type II matrices whose Bose-Mesner algebras are imprimitive are expressed as so-called generalized tensor products of some type II matrices of smaller sizes. As an application, we give a classification of type II matrices of size at most 10 except 9 by using the classification of commutative association schemes.     

An EOQ model for a deteriorating item with time dependent quadratic demand under permissible delay in payment

In this paper, an EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) model is developed for a deteriorating item having time dependent demand when delay in payment is permissible. The deterioration rate is assumed to be constant and the time varying demand rate is taken to be a quadratic function of time. Mathematical models are also derived under two different circumstances, i.e. Case I: The credit period is less than or equal to the cycle time for settling the account and Case II: The credit period is greater than the cycle time for settling the account. The results are illustrated with numerical examples. Justification for considering a time quadratic demand and permissible delay in payment are discussed.     

Modeling dependencies between rating categories and their effects on prediction in a credit risk portfolio

The internal‐rating‐based Basel II approach increases the need for the development of more realistic default probability models. In this paper, we follow the approach taken in McNeil A and Wendin J 7 (J. Empirical Finance 2007) by constructing generalized linear mixed models for estimating default probabilities from annual data on companies with different credit ratings. The models considered, in contrast to McNeil A and Wendin J 7 (J. Empirical Finance 2007), allow parsimonious parametric models to capture simultaneously dependencies of the default probabilities on time and credit ratings. Macro‐economic variables can also be included. Estimation of all model parameters are facilitated with a Bayesian approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. Special emphasis is given to the investigation of predictive capabilities of the models considered. In particular, predictable model specifications are used. The empirical study using default data from Standard and Poor's gives evidence that the correlation between credit ratings further apart decreases and is higher than the one induced by the autoregressive time dynamics. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于概率语言BWM与PROMETHEEII的多准则决策方法

提出了一种改进的偏好顺序结构评估法(Preference Ranking Organization Method For Enrichment Evaluations, PROMETHEE),即基于概率语言BWM与PROMETHEE II的多准则决策方法。针对多准则决策过程中,评价信息的模糊性和不确定性,采用概率语言(Probabilistic Linguistic Term Set, PLTS)处理评价信息,并纳入PROMETHEE II中对备选方案进行排序。针对传统的PROMETHEE II 中准则权重需要从外部获得的问题,采用最优最劣法(Best-worst Method, BWM)确定准则的权重。最后,以某企业无人机改造方案为例进行分析,验证所提方法的有效性和可行性。     

供应链上两类不同信用风险的关联及传染效应研究

在一个典型的存在资金约束的二级供应链上,通常存在两类不同的信用风险:一是供应商向银行信用贷款所形成的信贷信用风险;二是供应商为零售商提供商业信用而形成的商业信用风险。本文针对上述两类不同信用风险之间的关联性及传染问题展开研究,揭示了两类风险之间的传染机理,度量了风险的传染强度,并分析了传染强度的影响因素。研究表明:两类不同信用风险之间的关联性,导致供应链上存在由非同类信用风险构成的关联信用风险(Different types of associated credit risk),本文简称为供应链上的D类关联信用风险。结合数值分析发现:D类关联信用风险的传染强度与供应商的生产成本及无风险利率正相关,而与商品的市场价格负相关。特别地,当市场需求服从指数分布时,关联信用风险的传染强度与商业信用成本和零售商的特质有关,供应商通过调整商业信用成本和选择零售商类型可以降低D类关联信用风险的传染强度,进而降低自身的银行信贷风险。本文将同类型信用风险之间的关联和传染问题引申到不同类型的信用风险之间,进一步深化和拓展了关联信用风险的内涵。     

基于公路运力信用结构的供应链金融授信分析

文章首先从信用入手,分析供应链金融增信的要素,剖析公路运力信用结构组成,构建主体信用、交易信用及监管信用的具体指标,并明确三者与供应链金融授信额度的关系。其次,以融资自偿为基础,通过分析公路运力成本的构成及统计数据,确定出授信比率的基础值以及监管信用对基础值的影响。通过物流企业货量服从正态分布的特征,模拟出公路运力运费收入以及交易信用对运费收入的影响。最后,结合两者构建出受主体信用现金流约束检验的授信额度模型,并就金融机构风险偏好为风险规避的情况进行了算例分析。     

Construction of extremal Type II Z2k-codes

We give methods for constructing many self-dual ${\mathbb{Z}}_m$-codes and Type II ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2k}$-codes of length 2n starting from a given self-dual ${\mathbb{Z}}_m$-code and Type II ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2k}$-code of length 2n, respectively. As an application, we construct extremal Type II ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2k}$-codes of length 24 for $k=4,5,\dots ,20$ and extremal Type II ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2k}$-codes of length 32 for $k=4,5,\dots ,10$. We also construct new extremal Type II ${\mathbb{Z}}_4$-codes of lengths 56 and 64.     

基于数据的银行信贷行业的信用风险研究

目前多数研究利用美国旧金山市KMV公司于1997年建立的模型(KMV模型)计算企业年违约距离来评估具体企业的信用风险,但缺乏信贷行业的信用风险评估方法,也不能给出随时间变化的信用风险.首先提出基于数据的信贷行业随时间动态演化的信用风险评估模型,然后利用2016年18个行业的数据得到了中国信贷行业动态演化的信用风险,该信用风险随时间演化特征可分为波动上升、下降后波动、下降后稳定、稳定四种类型.进一步研究发现金融业、科学研究和技术服务业、信息传输软件和技术服务业这三个行业动态演化的信用风险平均值高且不稳定,住宿和餐饮业的信用风险很高但是比较平稳,其他行业的信用风险较低且较平稳.     

A classification problem of credit risk rating investigated and solved by optimisation of the ROC curve

Estimation of probability of default has considerable importance in risk management applications where default risk is referred to as credit risk. Basel II (Committee on Banking Supervision) proposes a revision to the international capital accord that implies a more prominent role for internal credit risk assessments based on the determination of default probability of borrowers. In our study, we classify borrower firms into rating classes with respect to their default probability. The classification of firms into rating classes necessitates the finding of threshold values separating the rating classes. We aim at solving two problems: to distinguish the defaults from non-defaults, and to put the firms in an order based on their credit quality and classify them into sub-rating classes. For using a model to obtain the probability of default of each firm, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis is employed to assess the distinction power of our model. In our new functional approach, we optimise the area under the ROC curve for a balanced choice of the thresholds; and we include accuracy of the solution into the program. Thus, a constrained optimisation problem on the area under the curve (or its complement) is carefully modelled, discretised and turned into a penalized sum-of-squares problem of nonlinear regression; we apply the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. We present numerical evaluations and their interpretations based on real-world data from firms in the Turkish manufacturing sector. We conclude with a discussion of structural frontiers, parametrical and computational features, and an invitation to future work.     

Quantile regression for modelling distributions of profit and loss

Quantile regression is applied in two retail credit risk assessment exercises exemplifying the power of the technique to account for the diverse distributions that arise in the financial service industry. The first application is to predict loss given default for secured loans, in particular retail mortgages. This is an asymmetric process since where the security (such as a property) value exceeds the loan balance the banks cannot retain the profit, whereas when the security does not cover the value of the defaulting loan then the bank realises a loss. In the light of this asymmetry it becomes apparent that estimating the low tail of the house value is much more relevant for estimating likely losses than estimates of the average value where in most cases no loss is realised. In our application quantile regression is used to estimate the distribution of property values realised on repossession that is then used to calculate loss given default estimates. An illustration is given for a mortgage portfolio from a European mortgage lender. A second application is to revenue modelling. While credit issuing organisations have access to large databases, they also build models to assess the likely effects of new strategies for which, by definition, there is no existing data. Certain strategies are aimed at increasing the revenue stream or decreasing the risk in specific market segments. Using a simple artificial revenue model, quantile regression is applied to elucidate the details of subsets of accounts, such as the least profitable, as predicted from their covariates. The application uses standard linear and kernel smoothed quantile regression.     

涉农企业信用评价动态指标隶属度向量判别研究

对涉农企业信用评价中的动态指标的隶属度向量进行判别研究.首先借鉴X-12-A砒MA季节调整法的思想对信用数据进行剥离,构建一种过程连续性的动态信用指标;其次通过时间序列三指数平滑模型对动态信用数据的变化进行预测,得到动态信用指标隶属度向量;再次,结合熵权-AHP法确定的权重,确定动态信用指标的综合隶属度向量;最后实证检验了方法在企业信用评价中应用的有效性.     

基于NS族模型的中国公司债信用利差预测

本文以中国公司债为研究对象, 基于NS族模型研究了信用利差的预测问题。通过对不同期限、不同信用评级公司债信用利差的样本内外预测效果进行实证比较, 得到主要结论如下:(1)模型对中长期公司债信用利差的预测误差低于短期公司债。(2)不同信用评级公司债信用利差的预测效果受剩余到期期限的影响:1年期的AAA级公司债的预测误差低于AA+和AA级公司债; 5年期的AA+级公司债的预测误差低于AAA和AA级公司债; 10年期的AA级公司债的预测误差低于AAA和AA+级公司债。成果为各经济主体预测信用利差提供了具体思路和方法, 有利于做出合理的金融决策。     

Re-assignment and consolidation of credit authorizations

When a customer is granted several credit lines with different risk levels, the bank usually stipulates an authorization for each credit line and a total authorization; moreover authorizations are sometimes given for sets of credit lines. The purpose of the paper is, given a set of credit lines with corresponding authorizations, and a customer's current credit utilizations, to find new utilizations of greatest risk to the bank, within the credit authorization limits and with regard to the current utilizations. These new utilizations, used as re-assigned authorizations enable the bank to assess the risks relative to residual commitment and possible overstepping for each credit line. Furthermore these risks can be aggregated over a set of customers for each credit line. An algorithm has been developed to compute these re-assigned authorizations; it is based on classical linear programming methods. This paper describes this algorithm and recommends its use to consolidate risks.     

增信措施对城投债评级和定价的影响

本文以2010~2018年城投债数据,研究增信措施对城投债的发行评级和融资成本的作用,以及43号文前后增信效果的差异。实证发现,增信措施可提高债项评级,降低主体融资成本,同时这种增信效果对信用资质较弱的城投债作用更显著。进一步地研究发现,2015年前发行的城投债的发行成本基本不受增信措施的影响,投资者更看重城投债发行主体所在区域的经济发展水平,体现了城投平台背后隐含地方政府信用;而在2015年之后,新增城投债的担保比例增加,各种增信措施均能显著降低融资成本。上述结果间接证明了43号文之后,增信措施给城投公司带来了融资便利。     

付费模式与评级制度对信用评级机构竞争的影响研究

基于信用评级行业的关键作用与改革争议,本文根据信用评级行业的双边市场特征,建立由信用评级机构、债券发行方、债券投资者组成的平台竞争模型,设定了发行方付费且单评级、投资者付费且单评级、发行方付费且双评级的三种信用评级制度,对信用评级机构的竞争行为与社会福利进行对比分析。研究发现:目前主流的发行方付费且单评级制度下,信用评级机构的评级费用和利润水平均为最高,社会总福利水平则居中。在单评级制度下推广投资者付费模式,可以在信用评级机构受冲击最小的情况下,适当提高社会总福利水平,不失为当前我国信用评级制度改革的最佳选择。单评级制度下,信用评级机构可以通过增加差异化程度来提高评级费用和利润水平,但在双评级制度下则面临全新竞争决策的挑战。     

Determination of the optimal trade credit policy: a supplier-Stackelberg model

This paper considers a two-echelon supply chain, where one supplier sells through a retailer a product with a stable market demand. We focus on how the supplier induces the retailer through trade credit to order more to reduce his/her own inventory-related cost. Under a ‘supplier-Stackelberg’ setting, we provide the supplier with the method of determining two trade credit scenarios: unconditional and conditional trade credit. We show that the unconditional trade credit scenario is always beneficial to the retailer but harmful to the supplier in most situations, while the conditional trade credit scenario is always beneficial to both parties. In addition, we specify the conditions under which the provision of unconditional trade credit is beneficial to the supplier. The three insights obtained in this paper are the following: (i) When the retailer’s per-unit opportunity cost is less than his/her per-unit opportunity gain, unconditional trade credit can induce the retailer to order less instead of more. (ii) If the supplier offers the retailer unconditional trade credit, the length of trade credit offered will have an upper bound. (iii) A well-designed conditional trade credit policy can realize a win-win outcome but also enables the supplier to occupy all the savings in the channel's cost incurred by trade credit, but any unconditional trade credit policy does not.