Senior Credit Manager, Asset Financing & Leveraged Credit

Senior Credit Manager, Asset Financing & Leveraged Credit

Description

Role Purpose:
Credit and risk management of the wholesale portfolio to ensure business objectives and to achieve high credit quality standards and early identification of problematic accounts so as to maximise profitability and minimise losses for the Bank.  There is a strong focus on enabling as well as protecting and ensuring that business objectives are met while maintaining suitable regard for underwriting standards. The role is broader than that of a traditional credit manager as there are expectations around involvement in non-transaction related activity such as stakeholder engagement, pipeline management/conversion, leadership and coaching, operational process improvements and Global Standards. 

Principal Accountabilities:  Key activities and decision making areas
Impact on the Business / Function:
•    Contributes to achievement of bank targets by promoting strong underwriting standards. 
•    To ensure a high level of self-awareness around the transaction approval process focusing on material items while recognising that commerciality and speed to market is important.

•    Implementing local, regional and Group policies and guidelines.

•    Promote credit quality through timely and forward looking risk reviews and contribute to early detection of weak/deteriorating credits.
Customers / Stakeholders:
•    Provides support/ guidance to the development of Relationship Manager’s by identifying and mitigating risks in credit proposals. 

•    Improve quality of CARM write-ups by proactively engaging Relationship Manager’s effectively enhancing credit turnaround time. 

•    Be fully engaged around growth plans by ensuring active dialogue in pipeline meeting, whitelisting and customer visits. Be conscious around creating positive rather than negative tension. 

Management, Leadership & Teamwork:

•    Contributes to the development of RM’s through coaching/counseling by effective use of relevant appraisal schemes and continual feedback. 

•    Proactively identify opportunities for process improvement and for better engagement with stakeholders. 

•    Consistently demonstrate a mature and independent approach to problem solving and a “big picture/senior management” view on organisation objectives. 

Operational Effectiveness & Control:

•    Contributes to the effectiveness of the risk control function and minimizes losses. 

•    Ensure that audit (internal and external) and control recommendations are implemented in full. 

•    Continually re-assess the Operational Risk inherent in the business by taking into account changing economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructuring and the impact of new technology.

•    Full compliance with data/MI reporting obligations where appropriate

Typical Targets and Measures
Impact on the Business / Function:

•    By evaluating and approving all credit applications expeditiously within own limits and recommending upwards those that exceed this delegation. 

•    Feedback from WCRM peers/line managers, and business stakeholders.

•    By pro-actively monitoring daily/weekly/ monthly/bi-monthly reports/returns, including Watchlists; monitoring sub-standard accounts and recommending exit strategies for high risk and low value relationships.

•    Ensuring that the Group’s initiatives in relation to issues including RWA, pricing, returns etc. are implemented.

•    Ensure reviews are completed on time with no overdue reviews. Effective/ proactive management of Special Mention accounts. Quality of corporate facilities of Regional portfolio at CRR rating of 5.3 or better to be closely monitored.

Customers / Stakeholders:

•    Feedback from stakeholders on engagement with Risk. 

•    Reduce incidences of CARM resubmissions via regular interactions with Business. 

•    Businesses meeting their growth objectives. Individual feedback from Head of WCRM. 

Management, Leadership & Teamwork:

•    By effective use of relevant appraisal schemes, coaching / counseling staff & identifying developmental / training needs.  Discussing credit/risk issues and trends, including socio-economic matters that affect branch/Region, trade and industry.

•     Feedback from WCRM peers/line managers, and business stakeholders.

•    Attendance at projects/stakeholder forums as delegated.  

•    Mentoring of colleagues both in HBCE Risk and outside. 

Operational Effectiveness & Control:

•    By taking into account changing economic or market conditions, legal and regulatory requirements, operating procedures and practices, management restructuring and the impact of new technology.

•    Pro-active monitoring of daily/ monthly reports/ returns including Exception Reports, Advisory List and Worry/Watch/Monitor list, etc.

•    Compliance with Audit and other internal control reports and the associate action plans. 

•    Familiarity with the latest guidelines and knowledge on market info/ industry trends etc.

Major Challenges:
To ensure strong underwriting standards and overall risk management as set out in the local, regional and Group policies. Emphasis should be placed on improving the quality of advances/exposure through in-depth and critical analysis of facility reviews and credit applications and good customer knowledge. 

To balance emphasis on improved credit quality with strong commercial orientation, strong internal controls with quality customer service and finally, to be guided by our overriding duty to protect and enhance shareholder value.

Role Context:
•        The job holder reports to Head of Asset Financing & Leveraged Credit, HBCE, who in turn reports to the Head of Wholesale Credit Risk Management, HBCE.

•        WCRM are broadly responsible for the credit and risk management of the Bank’s wholesale business for their respective functions/regions and are accountable for the implementation of the policies and procedures consistent with HSBC’s Group Standards. 

•      The job responsibilities include recommending or approving a substantial proportion of credit applications from branches with competitive turnaround time. A large part of the job is to manage the credit review process and to monitor the monthly overdue review positions while ensuring a high-degree of self-awareness around commercial terms and the impact WCRM has on the overall customer experience. 

•        The role holder must be conversant with market practice and terms across a wide variety of industries. 

•        The jobholder is required to be familiar with the regulations, particularly the ECB guidelines. Within this set of policies/frameworks, the jobholder is expected to exercise his authorities on a commercial and compliant basis.

•        As the jobholder is given a high degree of independence and flexibility to manage most aspects of the credit and risk-related business of the Bank they are required to exercise broad discretion and are often a reference point for risk related matter with Business stakeholders. 

•        Whilst the job entails working within established credit principles and guidelines, the economic and market instabilities; the prevailing risk profiles of the corporates and country in general, requires the job holder to be forward looking, adaptable and creative in meeting the needs of the business.

Management of Risk:
Maintain awareness of operational risk and minimize the likelihood of it occurring including its identification, assessment, mitigation and control, loss identification and reporting in accordance with policies.  

Observation of Internal Controls:
Maintain and observe HSBC internal control standards, implement and observe Group Compliance Policy, including the timely implementation of recommendations made by internal/external auditors and external regulators.  Foster a compliance culture and implement Group Compliance Policy by managing compliance risk in liaison with the Head of Group Compliance, Regional Compliance Officer, Area Compliance Officer or Local Compliance Officer, ensuring adequate compliance resources are in place and training is provided, and optimizing relations with regulators.

Role Dimensions:
As at end April 2022, Wholesale RWAs stood at ca.EUR25bn.

Qualifications

Knowledge & Experience / Qualifications  (For the role – not the role holder.  Minimum requirements of the role.)
The role requires:
-    Strong knowledge of the Bank’s leveraged credit businesses, particularly in Europe 
-    Familiarity with the Regulatory frameworks relating to leveraged lending in Europe
-    Practical experience - ideally 5 to 10+ years - in assessing Leveraged Credit and cashflow lending requests, and/or other types of structured transactions (Commercial Real Estate, Project Finance, Aviation, Shipping etc).
-    Familiarity with transaction structuring and documentation terms and controls
-    Understanding of the Bank’s credit approval processes, ideally with prior credit approvals and CARM experience
-    Understanding of the Bank’s underwriting cap framework and LSUM platform
-    Understanding of the Bank’s portfolio reporting systems, ideally with DRR and PVD familiarity
-    Proven stakeholder management skills in a dynamic and time-pressured environment
-    Calmness and resilience in the face of significant stakeholder pressure
-    Numeracy and excellent written and verbal communication skills
-    Ability to maintain underwriting standards under time pressure and manage multiple competing requests to tight 

Job Field: Risque et conformité