Credit Analyst

Description

Senior Credit Analyst Position: Senior Credit Analyst Department: Credit Reports to: Head of Credit / Credit Manager and Head of Operations 1. Key responsibilities 1.1 Credit risk and financial analysis •       Assess new and existing clients, including the company, directors, shareholders, related entities and sureties. •       Go through financial statements, management accounts, bank statements, tax records, debtor and creditor lists, asset registers, contracts, cashflows and existing debt. •       Look at profitability, liquidity, debt levels, working capital and whether cash flow is steady. •       Work out whether the client can afford the new facility on top of what they already owe. •       Take note of arrears, returned debit orders, bad credit records, tax debt, too much debt and other signs of trouble. •       Test how the client would cope if things went badly, such as lower sales, higher costs or customers paying late. •       Look at their industry, key customers, contracts, management and trading history. •       Pick up things that don't add up, like unexplained transactions or information that looks misleading. •       Form your own view of the client. Don't rely only on what the marketer tells you. 1.2 Deal evaluation and structuring •       Evaluate deals in construction, mining, transport, agriculture, aviation, power generation and other approved sectors. •       Check whether the deal works commercially, whether it is asset finance, rental or rent-to-own. •       Recommend deposits, terms, instalments, interest rates, fees, balloons and security. •       Check that the instalment is affordable for the client's cash flow. •       Check that supplier quotes, purchase prices, valuations, expected rental income and resale values are reasonable. •       Consider VAT, costs, commissions, funding costs and likely recovery costs when working out profit. •       Work out whether the return is worth the risk, the term and the money we are putting in. •       Recommend ways to reduce risk, like bigger deposits, sureties, cessions of receivables, insurance and other enforceable security. •       Push back when the instalment, deposit, term or residual doesn't protect us. •       Suggest other ways to structure a deal so it can still work within our risk appetite. •       Escalate deals that look good commercially but have a credit structure we can't accept. 1.3 Asset and security evaluation •       Look at the asset itself: market value, condition, age, hours, specs and remaining life. •       Check that the asset suits the deal and that its value supports the amount we are funding. •       Know the difference between market value, orderly sale value and what we would really get in a forced sale. •       Consider how easy it is to resell specialised equipment like heavy construction, and mining machinery, aircraft etc. •       Take into account hours, maintenance history, obsolescence, location, transport costs, refurbishment and export restrictions. •       Check the supplier or dealer, and make sure descriptions, serial numbers, ownership details and quotes all match. •       Look out for existing liens, ownership disputes, double financing, insurance gaps and security we might not be able to enforce. •       Work with the Technical Manager or outside inspectors when we need an inspection, valuation or condition report. •       Ask for more collateral or lower our exposure when the value is uncertain or recovery looks weak. •       Always consider both whether the client can pay and what we would get back if they can't. 1.4 Credit reports and recommendations •       Write clear, accurate credit reports for the approving authority or credit committee. •       Cover the deal, the client, financial performance, ability to pay, security, profitability and risks. •       Keep verified facts, what management told us, assumptions and open questions separate. •       Put the real concerns up front. Don't bury them in schedules. •       Make a clear recommendation: approve, decline, defer or ask for more information. •       If recommending approval, state the terms, conditions precedent, security and any monitoring needed. •       Show a way to reduce each major risk and be honest about what risk is left. •       Review the junior analysts' reports and send back anything incomplete, wrong or poorly motivated. •       Present and defend recommendations at credit meetings and answer management's questions. •       Keep a record of approval conditions, policy exceptions, outstanding items and why we made the recommendation. 1.5 Independent judgement and challenging risk •       Stay independent of sales pressure. •       Challenge forecasts that are too optimistic, revenue that isn't supported and customer contracts that haven't been verified. •       Question deals that look unaffordable, over-geared or reliant on uncertain future cash flow. •       Be more careful where the client's finances, industry or security call for it. •       Give marketers feedback on what is weak in their applications and what we need from them. •       Recommend a decline when the risk can't be reduced, no matter how attractive the deal looks. •       Escalate major risks, suspected misrepresentation, unusual related-party arrangements and conflicts of interest. •       Know the difference between a deal that just needs more information and one that is wrong for us. •       Make sure policy exceptions are motivated, documented and sent to the right authority. 1.6 Quality control and technical review •       Be the first technical reviewer of the junior analysts' submissions, where delegated. •       Check that calculations, debt schedules, cash flow, affordability and terms are correct. •       Make sure all the material risks have been picked up and dealt with. •       Set consistent standards for credit reports, analysis, supporting documents and recommendations. •       Spot the same mistakes coming up in applications and give Sales feedback so they improve. •       Flag incomplete applications and follow up until the missing information is in. •       Review complex or high-value deals and help the juniors with the technical side. •       Apply credit policy the same way across analysts, business units and deal types. •       Look for ways to turn deals around faster without lowering quality. 1.7 Due diligence, compliance and documentation •       Make sure the required checks on the client, directors, shareholders and related entities are done, as policy and the law require. •       Check that the financial information and supporting documents are complete, consistent and reliable. •       Make sure FICA, NCR and any other regulatory requirements are covered for the product, entity and deal. •       Escalate bad findings, compliance concerns, possible fraud and big discrepancies. •       Make sure the credit recommendation lists the security documents, sureties, cessions, waivers and insurance we need. •       Work with Legal and Operations so the approved conditions end up in the deal documents. •       Make sure conditions are met, or formally waived by the right person, before payout. •       Keep full records of assessments, documents, approvals and exceptions for audit and future reference. 1.8 Portfolio monitoring and early warning •       Keep an eye on how the loan and rental book is performing, together with Finance, Collections and Operations. •       Review arrears, missed instalments, returned debit orders, broken payment arrangements and other signs a client is slipping. •       Pick out clients whose finances, trading conditions or payment behaviour point to a higher chance of default. •       Reassess our exposure when a client is in trouble, loses a key contract, takes on a lot of new debt or can't repay as well as before. •       Recommend what to do, such as closer monitoring, more security, new payment arrangements, restructuring o