1. Think that each loan is a challenge not a chore.

Each loan is an opportunity to put to work the knowledge, the experience. Here’s a challenge to my judgement, a problem to be solved, analyzed, evaluated, and concluded. An opportunity to grow and to increase my effectiveness by learning more about a borrower, a business, an industry, ...

2. Do not prejudge , listen instead and understand.

Sounds easy isnt´t ? but it is one of the most difficult things a human being can do. Most of us don’t listen (we are so busy thinking of what we’re going to say, that we fail to hear and understand in fully). We judge ourselves by our thoughts and others by their actions and words. We must strive to hear precisely what the other person says and then to understand why he said it and what he really meant. Only after we have listened attentively and sympathetically and have understood intelligently should we attempt to evaluate.

3. Don’t pretend to know if you don´t .

You are very wise if you know your limitations. So never hesitate asking questions about other things you don’t know. When a borrower assumes incorrectly that you know certain things about him or his business or his industry or even about commercial lending or law, it is dangerous to let him proceed on that assumption. 

4. Don´t get lost on details.

Keep pushing yourself back from the details (though they must be covered) in order to stand off and view the credit as a unified whole. We can become so immersed in figures and details as to lose sight of, or give inadequate attention to, the broad strengths or weaknesses of the credit as a whole. Keep standing off for perspective to see that the picture is complete, that nothing has been left out, that no loose ends remain. Keep looking at the tree, the whole tree, and its place in the forest about it.

5. Remember  “how good” is less important than “how liquid.”

A safe transaction is a transaction that has no loss. A sound transaction is a transaction loan that can be repaid within its maturity terms without hardship or stress on the borrower. Any transaction must be safe and  it must also be sound. Borrowers must not only have adequate balance strength or adequate security, they must also have adequate repayment ability. Always ask yourself this question: “How is the borrower going to pay it back?”

6. Don’t ever commit yourself too soon 

Don’t speak the word until you’re prepared to do so and until you’re prepared to be bound by its consequences:

Be sure you have all the facts and that every consideration has been weighed before you commit yourself on any point or in any way at any stage of the discussion. Once a statement is prematurely made or a decision prematurely announced, you’ll be so busy trying to justify your position..

7. Don’t attribute the dirty work to “Headquarters” or “the Credit Committee”.

Never say that you might well agree but that the loan refusal or some other disagreeable decision, is the work of  “HQ” , “the Credit Committee” or “those people at central office.” . You represent your company; you are YOUR COMPANY; you must assume full responsibility for any decision made by your company  (we think; we have decided; we...), even if you agree little with it. Your responsibility is to argue the merits of the decision; once it is made, it becomes your decision also. If it then needs defending, you must defend it as your own decision. 

8. Never apologized.

Timidity has no place in our makeup. Be sure of your ground, evaluate carefully, then say straight out what your considered judgment dictates, without apology or hesitation because you suspect it may prove disagreeable. 

9. Accept full responsibility

and make decisions promptly on your own when you know you have all the facts, have considered all aspects of the case, and have sound reasons for the decisions you make.  When you are certain, act, because you believe in your judgement and not by a desire to show your authority or that you have the power to act without consulting.

10. When you are going to say “yes,”  just say it.

Most problems in life have shades of grey. When you’ve concluded that you’re going to grant a loan request, you must have decided that the pros outweigh the cons. Let it go . Weaknesses that might be helped through constructive comment should be discussed before the decision is reached; once reached, a favorable decision overrides such weaknesses and should be given positively. Don´t imply you are making a favour to anybody.

11. Lend, as if the money you are loaning were your own .

If you say “No” to investing your own funds, then the answer should be “No” for investing your company’s.

12. Be yourself and forget this list.

Lending money soundly and constructively is primarily a matter of applying intelligence to the facts in each case. Intelligence is simply common sense--or perhaps uncommon sense. It is the ability to apply  knowledge and experience to the successful solution of a new problem.

Sound lending requires intelligence; setting up list like this is something anybody can do.

El otro dia estaba en una de las multiples celebraciones de estos dias prenavideños: cenas de empresa, cenas de amigos, cenas de ex-colegas, cenas de padres de alumnos... y como siempre ocurre, la conversacion paso por el tema del trabajo. "y tu a que te dedicas?" suele ser la coletilla de aquel que ha estado explicando durante los aperitivos y hasta el segundo plato con todo lujo detalles su dia a dia...  Me tocaba a mi, pense. .. Antes, solia explicar mi trabajo con una broma: "soy el que dice que no". Explicar las funciones de un director de riesgos o un credit manager a una persona ajena al mundo de la financiacion empresarial era complicado. Luego vino la crisis, y todo el mundo entendia el trabajo, mas o menos.. Ahora, tenia que explicar a mi compañero de mesa que era eso del fintech, ..... su cara me indico que no habia oido eso en la vida... crowdlending, el P2B lending,........ rictus serio, ojos fijos.....  financiacion alternativa...  arqueo de cejas.... , asi que acabe explicando que era un mercado donde todo el mundo podia ser banquero. Ahhhh ... y si la plataforma le iba muy bien se convertia en un unicornio... ojos como platos, y mirada seria a mi vaso de vino ...

Porque la verdad es que hay mucha informacion sobre el fintech, y los unicornios y como afectara la entrada de los nuevos jugadores en el sector bancario y... pero toda esa informacion sigue estando a nivel de nicho.. Solo aquellos que saben de que van leen sobre el sector. Y aquellos a los que podria resultar interesante no tienen idea o les parece muy complicado. 

Asi que me puse a pensar como explicarlo en la proxima cena: 

Las empresas de FinTech aplican technologia a los servicios financieros y se pueden clasificar como:

Aqui solo hablare de las plataformas de financiacion de deuda. Las FinTechs utilizan la tecnología y el denominado 'Big Data' para proporcionar financiacion más rápida, más barata y a mas empresas que o bien no están cubiertos o parcialmente cubiertos por los bancos tradicionales. Lo hacen mediante

Dentro del amplio campo de empresas de financiacion las plataformas que unen inversores individuales -que tienen algo de dinero extra para invertir- con pequeños empresarios -que necesitan dinero en efectivo para hacer crecer sus negocios- se denominan plataformas de préstamos P2B o crowdlending. Sin embargo actualmente la gran mayoria de los fondos en las plataformas de préstamos P2P se originan a partir de fuentes institucionales. Así que para todos los efectos prácticos, el dinero institucional domina el lado de abastecimiento de la ecuación en la mayor parte de las plataformas de financiación de la deuda. La excepción a esta regla general son algunas plataformas de préstamos sociales (por ejemplo, Ecrowdinvest), pero que atienden a un segmento estrechamente definido de microempresarios con tamaños de entradas muy pequeñas o tienen un propósito específico impacto social. Estos FinTechs no entran en la categoría de masivamente escalable, esos unicornios de los que queria hablar... pero lo dejare para otra cena, me he dado cuenta que el resto de comensales estan atacando el postre...