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Essential Solutions to Manage Your CECL Implementation

Benefits of a comprehensive CECL solution.

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  • The Challenge
  • The Solution

Under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)’s forward-looking current expected credit loss (CECL) methodology, companies will need to set aside allowances taking into account the lifetime of expected credit losses. However, there can be many challenges in estimating loss rates, including:

  • The exposures lack external ratings
  • Internal losses are minimal or nonexistent
  • Length (time-period) of data is insufficient
  • Current portfolio composition differs from that in historical data
  • Current macroeconomic conditions differ from those in historical data
  • Lack of information/data on economic changes and outdated forecasts

Our comprehensive CECL Scorecard solution includes capabilities for: credit risk scoring, macroeconomic forecasts, and scenario/stress testing, helping you to efficiently meet your implementation strategies.

A robust CECL solution should help meet requirements including:

  • Navigate regulatory reporting and documentation requirements, including CECL requirement of applying a reasonable and supportable forecast.
  • Where data is lacking, allow for linkages to external default / loss information, facilitating adjustments for both current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts based on robust external data.
  • The calculation of allowance for credit losses and all supporting data and assumptions must be provided per regulatory requirements.
  • The Challenge
  • The Solution

Source: CECL Scorecard Solution, S&P Global Market Intelligence, as of March 2021. For illustrative purposes only.

Dual Credit Risk Scoring used for CECL

S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CECL Scorecard methodology consists of five steps, extending the estimation of Probability of Default (PD) and Loss Given Default (LGD) to the instrument’s remaining lifetime and using macro-economic forecasts to construct a forward-looking term structure before calculating Expected Credit Losses (ECLs).

For rated instruments, we use credit ratings in the first step of our CECL Scorecard methodology for estimating ECLs. We associate a long-term average default rate term structure (often labeled through-the-cycle) to each rating based on historical default data contained in our CreditPro® product offering.

A comprehensive Credit Assessment Scorecard or a streamlined set of inputs provided within the CECL Model can be used to provide an instrument-level PD and LGD estimates for unrated low-default portfolios (e.g. Municipals, Commercial Real Estate [CRE], Corporates, etc.)

The methodology also accounts for an industry-specific credit cycle adjustment, reflecting the industry’s current position in the credit cycle as well as quarterly forecasts (provided by S&P Global Economics) of selected asset-class-specific macroeconomic factors correlated with ECLs.

Estimating Credit Losses Under COVID-19 and the Post-Crisis Recovery

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Using Robust PD and LGD Data as a Starting Point to Estimate Credit Losses

Leverage current and historical default and recovery data dating back to 1981. In addition, our methodology allows for separation of the collateral from the borrower analysis, providing an opportunity to strengthen your overall risk management capabilities. Get deeper insight into loan losses and granular insights helping you to adjust for qualitative and macroeconomic changes.

Start your journey to CECL implementation with a methodology that helps you:

  • Understand concentration effects (sector, geography, product, etc.) on allowance results
  • Gain insights into term structure impact of shifting from e.g. a one-year estimation to lifetime
  • Consider impacts of the macroeconomic environment and position in the credit cycle
  • Anticipate impacts of credit score* changes (PD and LGD) on allowance results
  • Apply one approach across a broad range of instruments, including loans, held-to-maturity debt securities, trade receivables, receivables related to securities agreements, and reinsurance recoverables.

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Access essential CECL insights


Estimating Credit Losses Under COVID-19 and the Post-Crisis Recovery

In this blog, we cover four benefits that could be achieved by implementing a robust CECL model, particularly during and post-pandemic.

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What Private and Small Reporting Companies Can Expect from 2023 CECL

During this on-demand webinar, we explore how private entities gearing up to adopt CECL can draw lessons to avoid overstating credit losses and check that their solutions are efficient and complete.

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*Credit scores are developed based on S&P Global Ratings criteria.