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l l★K

Federal Reserve Bank
of Dallas

DALLAS, TEXAS
75265-5906

October 16, 2002
Notice 02-55

TO: The Chief Executive Officer of each
financial institution and others concerned
in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District
SUBJECT
Bank Regulators’ Data Show Continued Increase in
Adversely Classified Syndicated Bank Loans
DETAILS
According to a joint agency press release, the quality of large syndicated bank loans
continued to deteriorate during 2002, but at a slower rate than was evident in 2001. The deterioration was consistent with general economic, sectorial, and credit market trends. The results—
reported by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—are based on analyses prepared
in the second quarter and reflect business and economic conditions that prevailed at that time.
ATTACHMENT
A copy of the joint press release dated October 8, 2002, is attached.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information, please contact Bobby Coberly, Banking Supervision Department, (214) 922-6209. Paper copies of this notice or previous Federal Reserve Bank notices can
be printed from our web site at http://www.dallasfed.org/banking/notices/index.html.

For additional copies, bankers and others are encouraged to use one of the following toll-free numbers in contacting the Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas: Dallas Office (800) 333-4460; El Paso Branch Intrastate (800) 592-1631, Interstate (800) 351-1012;
Houston Branch Intrastate (800) 392-4162, Interstate (800) 221-0363; San Antonio Branch Intrastate (800) 292-5810.

Joint Release

For Immediate Release

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

October 8, 2002

Bank Regulatory Agencies Find Adversely Rated Syndicated Loans
Continue to Increase in 2002, but at Slower Rate than Previous Year
WASHINGTON -- The quality of large syndicated bank loans continued to deteriorate this
year, but at a slower rate than was evident in 2001, according to the 2002 Shared National
Credit (SNC)1 review, which federal bank regulators released today. The deterioration was
consistent with general economic, sectorial, and credit market trends.
The results -- reported by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation -- are based on
analyses that were prepared during the second quarter and reflect business and economic
conditions that prevailed at that time.
For the 2002 review, total loan commitments classified as either substandard, doubtful or loss
rose by $39.4 billion or 34 percent over the previous year, compared to a net increase of $54.3
billion or 86 percent the year before. At the same time, commitments rated special mention
rose $3.6 billion or 5 percent compared to $39.1 billion or 108 percent the year before.
Adversely rated credits are the total of loans classified substandard, doubtful, and loss and loans
rated special mention. Under the agencies’ Uniform Loan Classification Standards, classified
loans have well defined weaknesses, including default in some cases, while special mention
loans exhibit potential weaknesses, which may result in further deterioration if left uncorrected.
Deterioration since the middle of last year was largely driven by the pronounced problems in
the telecommunication sector, alleged corporate fraud, weakness from the recent recession, and
the after-effects of September 11th. Similar to last year, deterioration has been particularly
evident for credits to leveraged and speculative-grade borrowers that are facing difficulty
generating sufficient cash flow to service their debts because of over capacity, weaker pricing or
slower than anticipated growth. At the same time, certain market segments have shown
moderate improvement, with the professional, scientific, financial, insurance and other service
sectors showing lower classification levels relative to 2001.
In 2002, the SNC Program covered 9,328 credits totaling $1.9 trillion in loan commitments to
5,542 borrowers. Of the total commitments, $692 billion was advanced and outstanding.
Classified credits totaled $157.1 billion, or 8.4 percent of total commitments, up from $117.6
billion or 5.7 percent in 2001. At the same time, loans listed for special mention rose to 4.2
percent of total commitments, from 3.7 percent in 2001. On a combined basis, special
mention and classified loans represent 12.6 percent of total commitments, up from 9.4 percent
a year ago but still below the peak of 16 percent in 1991 (see Chart 1 and Appendix A). None
of these figures include the effects of hedging or other techniques that individual
organizations might have employed to mitigate risk.

2

C hart 1 - A dversely R ated C redits
18

Percent of Commitments

16
14
12
Special M ention
Classified

10
8
6
4
2
0
91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

Of particular note for 2002 was a record $19.6 billion in commitments characterized as loss, up
$11.6 billion from the year before. Of that total, $7.6 billion or 39 percent was attributable to
the telecommunication and cable industries.
Of the $1.9 trillion in total SNC commitments, U.S. banking organizations2 and foreign
banking organizations (FBO) each held 45 percent of the exposures, and nonbank firms held
the remaining 10 percent (see top panel of Table 1). Since 2000, the share of commitments
held by U.S. banks has fallen somewhat, while the nonbank share has grown. For 2002, the
rate of deterioration for credits held by these groups has differed markedly, with U.S. banking
organizations experiencing an 11 percent increase in classifieds, compared to 39 percent for
FBOs and 68 percent for nonbanks. Classifications as a percent of commitments also showed a
wide range with U.S. banks exhibiting lower overall problems relative to FBOs or nonbanks
(see bottom panel).

Table 1 - Exposures by Entity Type
Share of Total Commitments (%)
U.S. Bank
FBO
Nonbank
Total Classifications ($ billions)
U.S. Bank
FBO
Nonbank
Total
Total Classifications (% Increase)
U.S. Bank
FBO
Nonbank
Total
Classified as % of Commitments
U.S. Bank
FBO
Nonbank
Total

2002

2001

2000

45%
45%
10%

46%
46%
8%

48%
45%
7%

54.4
61.8
41.0
157.1

48.8
44.4
24.4
117.6

26.6
22.8
13.9
63.4

11%
39%
68%
34%

83%
95%
75%
86%

72%
69%
65%
69%

6.5%
7.3%
22.6%
8.4%

5.2%
4.7%
14.5%
5.7%

2.8%
2.6%
10.2%
3.2%

3

The significantly higher classification rate for nonbanks is consistent with market
observations that nonbanks have largely focused on subinvestment grade investments and
have been purchasers of distressed loans in the secondary market at discounts to par
value; all dollar amounts in this release are par amounts. In addition, nonbanks and U.S.
banks each held 27 percent of the loss classification, while FBOs held the remaining 46
percent.
Over the past year, the telecommunication and cable industries experienced the steepest
decline in quality, with three-quarters of the $40 billion increase in SNC classifieds
attributable to this segment. For 2002, total classifications for the sector soared to 27.0
percent of total commitments, compared to 3.9 percent the year before (see bottom panel
of Table 2).
Table 2 - Telecom & Cable Classifications (2002)

Commited Amounts ( $Bill)
Substandard
Doubtful
Loss
Total Classified

Total
Telecom
23.6
5.0
7.6
36.3

Special Mention
Total Criticized
% share

Telecom-Related Held By:
U.S.
Banks FBOs Nonbanks
7.8
8.9
6.9
1.2
2.8
1.0
1.8
3.2
2.6
10.8
15.0
10.5

7.9
44.2
100%

2.3
13.1
30%

3.1
18.1
41%

2.4
12.9
29%

Classified as % of Commitment
2002
27.0%
2001
3.9%

24.0%
3.3%

25.0%
3.3%

35.8%
10.0%

134.4
162.2

45.0
59.2

60.0
74.1

29.4
28.9

100%
100%

34%
36%

45%
46%

22%
18%

SNC Commitments Held ($Bill)
2002
2001
Share of Telecom Held (%)
2002
2001

The second largest increase in classifications was attributable to the oil, gas, pipelines
and utilities industries, with a $12.7 billion increase and a classification rate of 7.5
percent, compared to 1.9 percent the year before (see Appendix B). Special mention
credits for this segment more than doubled and amounted to 6.9 percent of commitments.
Although the manufacturing industry exhibits the largest dollar volume of classified and
criticized assets within the SNC portfolio, the rate of deterioration has diminished
markedly from the prior year, with classifieds growing just 5 percent. The 1.5 percentage
point rise in the manufacturing classification rate to 12.1 percent is largely a function of
an 8 percent decline in outstanding commitments, rather than a marked growth in
problem credits. On the positive side, classifications in the professional, scientific and
other services industry fell by $3.9 billion, and classifieds for financial services and
insurance industries declined by $3.0 billion.

4

For the most part, banking organizations have been vigilant in identifying problem credits
and reflecting deterioration in the quality of syndicated loans in their internal credit
ratings. A combination of factors, including strong earnings and capital bases, coupled
with diverse revenue sources and balance sheets have allowed U.S. banking organizations
to absorb deteriorating credit conditions over the past three years without the disruption
experienced a decade ago. Nevertheless, banking organizations must continue to be
vigilant in the current environment to ensure that they promptly identify and address any
continuation in credit quality deterioration and adjust loans loss allowance levels
appropriately3.
Media Contacts

OCC:
FDIC
Federal Reserve

Dean DeBuck
David Barr
Dave Skidmore

(202) 874-4876
(202) 898-6992
(202) 452-2955

Appendix A
Summary of Shared National Credit Trends
Committed Balances
Year

Special
Mention

Substandard

1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002

49.2
50.4
31.4
31.5
18.8
16.8
19.6
22.8
31.3
36.3
75.4
79.0

65.5
56.4
50.4
31.1
25.0
23.1
19.4
17.6
31.0
47.9
87.0
112.0

# - Data are not available.

(Dollars in Billions)
Doubtful
Loss
Total
Classified
10.8
12.8
6.7
2.7
1.7
2.6
1.9
3.5
4.9
10.8
22.6
25.5

3.5
3.3
3.5
2.3
1.5
1.4
0.9
0.9
1.5
4.7
8.0
19.6

79.8
72.5
60.6
36.1
28.2
27.1
22.2
22.0
37.4
63.4
117.6
157.1

Total
Total
Total
Adversely Committed Outstanding
Rated
129.0
806
#
122.9
798
#
92.0
806
331
67.6
893
298
47.0
1,063
343
43.9
1,200
372
41.8
1,435
423
44.8
1,759
561
68.7
1,829
629
99.7
1,951
705
192.8
2,050
769
236.1
1,871
692

5

Appendix B
Summary of SNC Industry Trends4 2000-2002 ($Billions)

Industry

2002

2001

2000

Telecommunication & Cable
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

134.4
36.3
7.9
27.0%
5.9%

162.2
6.5
11.8
4.0%
7.3%

139.7
2.1
3.4
1.5%
2.4%

Manufacturing
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

499.0
60.2
24.7
12.1%
4.9%

543.7
57.4
25.9
10.6%
4.8%

574.7
19.6
18.3
3.4%
3.2%

Professional, Scientific, & Other Services
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

98.5
7.8
1.6
7.8%
1.6%

123.4
11.7
2.4
9.5%
1.9%

180.2
13.2
4.0
7.3%
2.2%

Oil, Gas, Pipelines & Utilities
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

226.1
17.0
15.5
7.5%
6.9%

224.5
4.3
7.0
1.9%
3.1%

174.5
4.0
1.0
2.3%
0.6%

Construction, Real Estate, Lodging & Transportation
Commitment
182.9
199.0
Classified
9.3
7.8
Special Mention
10.3
5.3
% Classified
5.1%
3.9%
% Special Mention
5.6%
2.7%

106.4
1.4
1.0
1.3%
0.9%

Financial Services & Insurance
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

410.0
9.0
3.7
2.2%
0.9%

460.1
12.0
4.3
2.6%
0.9%

504.0
14.3
2.4
2.8%
0.5%

All Other
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

320.3
17.5
15.2
5.5%
4.8%

337.5
18.0
18.7
5.3%
5.5%

271.5
8.7
6.1
3.3%
2.3%

All Industries (Total)
Commitment
Classified
Special Mention
% Classified
% Special Mention

1,871.2
157.1
79.0
8.4%
4.2%

2,050.4
117.6
75.4
5.7%
3.7%

1,951.0
63.4
36.3
3.2%
1.9%

6

Endnotes
1

The Shared National Credit (SNC) Program was established in 1977 by the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency to provide an efficient and consistent review and classification of
large syndicated loans. The annual program covers loans or loan commitments of at least $20
million that are shared by three or more financial institutions.
2

To better reflect ultimate ownership, in this year’s press release U.S. banks are defined to
exclude U.S. chartered subsidiaries of foreign banking organizations for the years 2000 through
2002. Last year’s press release data included those subsidiaries under U.S. banks, even if they
were consolidated under the FBO’s worldwide banking organization.
3

For further guidance, institutions should refer to the July 12, 1999 Joint Interagency Letter to
Financial Institutions on the allowance for loan losses, as well as the December 1993 Interagency
Policy Statement on the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses.
4

Due to the recent conversion of industry classification codes (from SIC to NAICS), the
specificity of 2002 and 2001 data exceeds that available for 2000. Accordingly, consistent yearto-year comparisons of industry sector information are not always possible. NAICS groupings of
industries identified in Appendix B for 2002 and 2001 are as follows: Telecommunication &
Cable (5132 through 51339); Manufacturing – 31 to 33; Professional, Scientific, and Other
Services – 54, 55, 56, 61, 62; Oil, Gas, Pipelines, and Utilities – 21 (oil- & gas-related only), 22,
486; Construction, Real Estate, Lodging and Transportation – 23, 48 (excluding 486), 49, 53, 72;
Finance and Insurance – 52; All Other – Remaining NAICS codes.