Regulatory Directives on

Loan Classification &

Provisioning, Large Loan
and Write-off

Mir Iftekhar Hossain

Deputy Director
Banking Regulation and Policy Department
 A glimpse on MBL asset quality
MERCANTILE BANK LIMITED

(BDT in Crore)
Loans &
Loans & Advances % Classified Large
Total Classified Large Loan
Total Loans Advances % of Total Classified Loan% Loan(Funded Written-off
Year Total Asset Classified Loan% to Total
& Advances of Total Assets Loan% (total bank +Non- outstanding
Loan (PCB's) Loan(%)
Assets (total bank industry) funded)
industry)

2014 16,847.41 11,706.00 69.48 59.00 483.16 4.13 9.69 4.98 4,917.25 42.01 249.81

2013 14,484.19 9,768.85 67.44 59.00 465.98 4.77 8.93 4.54 4,424.06 45.29 189.69

Source: Mercantile Bank Annual Report, 2013 & 2014

Bangladesh Bank_Financial Stability Report, 2014

 Circulars in force
Loan Classification & Provisioning
BRPD Circular No. 14/2012 dated Sep 23, 2012
BRPD Circular No. 19/2012 dated Dec 27, 2012
BRPD Circular No. 05/2013 dated May 29, 2013
BRPD Circular No. 16/2014 dated Nov 18, 2014
BRPD Circular No. 08/2015 dated Aug 02, 2015
Large Loan
BRPD Circular No. 02/2014 dated Jan 16, 2014
Write off
BRPD Circular No. 02/2003 dated Jan 13, 2003
BRPD Circular No. 13/2013 dated Nov 07, 2013
Loan
Classification &
Provisioning
 Loan Classification & Provisioning
1. Categories of Loans and Advances
2. Basis for Loan Classification
3. Accounting of the Interest of Classified Loans
4. Maintenance of Provision
5. Base for Provision
6. Eligible Collateral
 Categories of Loans and Advances
All loans and advances will be grouped into four
(4) categories for the purpose of classification,
namely-
(a) Continuous Loan
(b) Demand Loan
(c) Fixed Term Loan and
(d) Short-term Agricultural & Micro- Credit.
Categories of Loans and Advances
 Categories of Loans and Advances
Continuous Loan: The loan accounts in which
transactions may be made within certain limit and have
an expiry date for full adjustment will be treated as
Continuous Loan. Examples are: Cash Credit, Overdraft,
etc.
Demand Loan: The loans that become repayable on
demand by the bank will be treated as Demand Loan. If
any contingent or any other liabilities are turned to
forced loan (i.e. without any prior approval as regular
loan) those too will be treated as Demand Loan. Such
as: Forced Loan against Imported Merchandise, Payment
against Document, Foreign Bill Purchased, and Inland
Bill Purchased, etc.
 Categories of Loans and Advances
Fixed Term Loan: The loans, which are repayable within a specific
time period under a specific repayment schedule, will be treated
as Fixed Term Loan.
Short-term Agricultural & Micro-Credit: Short-term Agricultural
Credit will include the short-term credits as listed under the
Annual Credit Programme issued by the Agricultural Credit and
Financial Inclusion Department (ACFID) of Bangladesh Bank.
Credits in the agricultural sector repayable within 12 (twelve)
months will also be included herein.
Short-term Micro-Credit will include any micro-credits not
exceeding an amount determined by the ACFID of Bangladesh
Bank from time to time and repayable within 12 (twelve) months,
be those termed in any names such as Non-agricultural credit,
Self-reliant Credit, Weaver's Credit or Bank's individual project
credit.
 Classification Categories

1. Standard (STD)
Unclassified
2. Special Mention Account (SMA)

3. Sub-standard (SS)

4. Doubtful (DF) Classified

5. Bad/Loss (BL)
 Basis for Loan Classification
_Objective Criteria
(1) Past Due/Over Due:
(i) Any Continuous Loan if not repaid/renewed within the fixed
expiry date for repayment or after the demand by the bank will be
treated as past due/overdue from the following day of the expiry
date.
(ii) Any Demand Loan if not repaid within the fixed expiry date for
repayment or after the demand by the bank will be treated as past
due/overdue from the following day of the expiry date.
(iii) In case of any installment(s) or part of installment(s) of a Fixed
Term Loan is not repaid within the fixed expiry date, the amount of
unpaid installment(s) will be treated as past due/overdue from the
following day of the expiry date.
(iv) The Short-term Agricultural and Micro-Credit if not repaid
within the fixed expiry date for repayment will be considered past
due/overdue after six months of the expiry date.
 Basis for Loan Classification
_Objective Criteria
(2) All unclassified loans other than Special Mention Account (SMA) will
be treated as Standard.
(3) A Continuous loan, Demand loan or a Term Loan which will remain
overdue for a period of 02 (two) months or more, will be put into the
"Special Mention Account(SMA)". This will help banks to look at
accounts with potential problems in a focused manner and it will capture
early warning signals for accounts showing first sign of weakness. Loans
in the "Special Mention Account (SMA)" will have to be reported to the
Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of Bangladesh Bank.
(4) Loans except Short-term Agricultural & Micro-Credit in the "Special
Mention Account" and Sub-Standard will not be treated as defaulted
loan for the purpose of section 27KaKa(3) [read with section 5(GaGa)] of
the Banking Companies Act, 1991. However, Fixed Term Loans amounting
up to Tk. 10.00 Lacs in the Sub Standard category will also be treated as
defaulted loan for the same purpose.
 Basis for Loan Classification
_Objective Criteria
Loan Type Sub-standard Doubtful Bad/Loss
Continuous Loan-If past 03 months but <06 06 months but 09 months
due/ overdue for months <09 months
Demand Loan -If past due/ 03 months but <06 06 months but 09 months
overdue for months <09 months
Fixed Term Loan 03 months but <06 06 months but 09 months
(amounting more than 10 months <09 months
lac) If defaulted
installments are equals
payables for
Fixed Term Loan 06 months but <09 09months but 12 months
(amounting upto 10 lac) months <12 months
Short-term Agricultural and 12 months but <36 36 months but 60 months
Micro-Credit -If past due/ months <60 months
 Section 27KaKa(3) [read with section 5(GaGa)]
of the Banking Companies Act, 1991
Section 27KaKa(3)

Section 5(GaGa)
 Basis for Loan Classification
_ Qualitative Judgement
Classification Assessment Factors
Category
Special The loan was not made in compliance with the banks internal policies.
Mention Failure to maintain adequate and enforceable documentation.
Account Poor control over collateral.
Occasional overdrawn within the past year.
Below-average or declining profitability.
Barely acceptable liquidity.
Sub-standard Recurrent overdrawn, low account turnover, location in a volatile
industry, very low profitability, cash flow less than repayment of
principal and interest, conflict in corporate governance, unjustifiable
lack of external audit, pending litigation of a significant nature.
Primary sources of repayment are insufficient to service the debt and
the bank must look to secondary sources of repayment, including
collateral.
The banking organization has acquired the asset without the types of
adequate documentation that are required in the banking
organizations lending policy, or there are doubts about the validity of
that documentation.
 Basis for Loan Classification
_ Qualitative Judgement
Classification Assessment Factors
Category
Doubtful Permanent overdrawn.
Location in an industry with poor aggregate earnings.
Serious competitive problems.
Failure of key products;
Illiquidity, including the necessity to sell assets to meet operating
expenses.
Cash flow less than required interest payments.
Doubts about true ownership.
Bad/Loss The obligor seeks new loans to finance operational losses.
Location in an industry that is disappearing.
Technological obsolescence, very high losses.
Cash flow less than production costs, no repayment source except
liquidation.
Presence of money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, or other criminal
activity, no further support by owners.
 Improvement in Classification
From time to time, in the judgment of the bank, the
condition of a loan may improve and it may be justified
to move it to a more favorable classification category.
The decision to move a loan from Bad/Loss to Doubtful
or Substandard, or from Doubtful to Substandard, may,
with appropriate justification, be taken by the Chief
Credit Officer, with the concurrence of the Chief
Financial Officer. The decision to move a loan from
Substandard, Doubtful, or Bad/Loss to Special Mention
Account or to declassify it completely must be taken by
the Board of Directors, with appropriate justification
presented by the branch manager who originated the
loan in question and the Managing Director.
 Improvement in Classification
A bank may request the concerned Department of
Banking Inspection of Bangladesh Bank to review the
classification.
Bangladesh Bank will respond to the bank within 15
days of receiving such request. However, in any case
where there is a lingering disagreement between the
classification determined by bank management and
the classification determined by Bangladesh Bank, the
judgment of Bangladesh Bank will prevail.
Any loan classified during Bangladesh Banks on-site
inspection on the basis of qualitative judgement
cannot be declassified without the consent of
Bangladesh Bank.
 Accounting of the Interest of Classified Loans
If any loan or advance is classified as 'Sub-standard' and
'Doubtful', interest accrued on such loan will be credited to
Interest Suspense Account, instead of crediting the same to
Income Account.
In case of rescheduled loans the unrealized interest, if any,
will be credited to Interest Suspense Account, instead of
crediting the same to Income Account.
As soon as any loan or advance is classified as 'Bad/Loss',
charging of interest in the same account will cease. In case of
filing a law-suit for recovery of such loan, interest for the
period till filing of the suit can be charged in the loan account
in order to file the same for the amount of principal plus
interest. But interest thus charged in the loan account has to
be preserved in the 'Interest Suspense' account.
 Accounting of the Interest of Classified Loans

If any interest is charged on any 'Bad/Loss' account for

any other special reason, the same will be preserved in
the 'Interest Suspense' account. If classified loan or
part of it is recovered i.e., real deposit is effected in
the loan account, first the interest charged and accrued
but not charged is to be recovered from the said
deposit and the principal to be adjusted afterwards.
 Maintenance of Provision
Loans to
Particulars Short Consumer financing SMEF BHs/MBs All other
Term / SDs Credit
Agri. Other HF LP
Credit than
HF,LP

UC Standard 2.5% 5% 2% 2% 0.25% 2% 1%

SMA - 5% 2% 2% 0.25% 2% 1%

SS 5% 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 20%

Classified
DF 5% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%

B/L 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

@1% on the off-balance sheet exposures. (Provision will be on the total

exposure and amount of cash margin or value of eligible collateral will not
be deducted while computing Off balance sheet exposure.
 Provisions to Cover All Expected Losses

The expressed minimum percentages of

provisions in the table shown for exposures in
each classification category are absolute
minimums, and banks are encouraged to set aside
higher provisions if expected losses on the loan
pools (for general provisions) or individual loans
(for specific provisions) warrant.
 Base for Provision
For eligible collaterals of the following types,
provision will be maintained at the stated rates
in the table on the outstanding balance of the
classified loans less the amount of Interest
Suspense and the value of eligible collateral:
a. Deposit with the same bank under lien against the loan,
b. Government bond/savings certificate under lien,
c. Guarantee given by Government or Bangladesh Bank.
 Base for Provision
For all other eligible collaterals, the provision will be
maintained at the stated rates in the table on the balance
calculated as the greater of the following two amounts:
i. outstanding balance of the classified loan less the
amount of Interest Suspense and the value of eligible
collateral; and
ii. 15% of the outstanding balance of the loan.
 Eligible Collateral
-100% of deposit under lien against the loan
-100% of the value of government bond/savings certificate under
lien
-100% of the value of guarantee given by Government or
Bangladesh Bank
-100% of the market value of gold or gold ornaments pledged with
the bank.
- 50% of the market value of easily marketable commodities kept
under control of the bank
- Maximum 50% of the market value of land and building
mortgaged with the bank
- 50% of the average market value for last 06 months or 50% of the
face value, whichever is less, of the shares traded in stock
exchange.
 Reporting
The banks will conduct their classification- activities on
quarterly basis.
(i) CL-1 is the compilation/summary of 5 other forms.
This form is for showing summary of classification status
for different loan categories mentioned earlier along with
staff loan.
(ii) CL-2 is for reporting Continuous Loan
(iii) CL-3 is for reporting Demand Loan
(iv) CL-4 is for reporting Term Loan
(v) CL-5 is for reporting Short-term Agricultural and
Micro-Credit.
 Reporting
Banks having Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) will report
to Bangladesh Bank in similar way in a separate CL-1
named OBU SUMMARY OF LOAN CLASSIFICATION AND
PROVISION.
Banks are advised to submit detailed statements
through CL-1 in respect of classification, provision and
interest suspense accounts within 25 days from the
reference date and ensure correct and timely
submission of CL-1 failing to which penalty may be
imposed on the concerned non compliant bank.
Large Loan
 Large Loan Definition
Large Loan has been defined in Paragraph-2(b)(i) of BRPD
Circular No: 02/2014 as per Clause (2) of Section-26Kha
of the Banking Companies Act, 1991.

Paragraph-2(b)(i)-
Large loan refers to any exposure to a single
person/counterparty or a group which is equal to or
greater than 10% of the capital.
 Large Loans limits
The banks may sanction large loans as per the
following limits set against their respective classified
loans:
Rate of Net Classified Loans Large Loan Portfolio Ceiling against
Bank's Total Loans & Advances

Upto 5% 56%

More than 5% but upto 10% 52%

More than 10% but upto 15% 48%

More than 15% but upto 20% 44%

More than 20% 40%

 Calculation Method of total large loan
For example, let a banks Net Classified Loans is 5%. According to
the large loan policy, the bank may have large loan exposures up to
56% of its total Loans & Advances whereas total Loans & Advances
is calculated as 100% funded exposures plus 50% nonfunded
exposures. However, while calculating Large Loan Portfolio both
funded and non-funded credit facilities will be considered as 100%
credit equivalent. So, the large loan portfolio ceiling formula for
the bank is as follows:

(Total Funded Large Loan Exposure*100%+

Total Non-funded Large Loan Exposure*100%)
(Banks Total Funded Exposure*100%+ 56%
Banks Total Non-funded Exposure*50%)
 Prudential Norms regarding Large Loan
Banks must assess credit risk by adopting Credit Risk
Grading (CRG) before sanctioning or renewing large loans.
If the rating of a CRG turns out to be "Marginal", banks
shall not sanction the large loan, but it can consider
renewal of an existing large loan taking into account other
favorable conditions and factors. However, if the result of a
CRG is Special Mention Account (SMA), neither sanction
nor renewal of large loans can be considered.
Sanctioning, renewing or rescheduling of large loans shall
be approved by the Board of Directors in case of local
banks. Such decisions will be taken by the Chief Executive
in case of foreign banks. However, while approving
proposals of large loans, among other things, compliance
with this circular must be ensured.
Loan Write-off
 Loan Write-off Policy
In course of conducting credit operations by banks the
quality of a portion of their loan portfolio, in many cases,
deteriorates and uncertainty arises in realizing such loans
and advances. These loans are adversely classified as per
existing rules and necessary provision has to be made
against such loans. Writing off bad loans having adequate
provision is an internationally accepted normal
phenomenon in banking business. Owing to the
reluctance of banks in Bangladesh in resorting to this
system their balance sheets are becoming unnecessarily
and artificially inflated. In this context the policies for
writing off loans are being issued (BRPD 02/2003 & BRPD
13/2013) for compliance by banks
 Loan Write-off Policy
Banks may, at any time, write off loans classified as bad/loss for
which 100% provisions have been kept and cases have been
filed in the court of law. However, banks may write-off default
loans below Tk 50,000 without filing suit against the borrowers..
Under the process the oldest bad/loss classified loans should be
considered first for written off.
Banks may write off loans by debit to their current year's
income account where 100% provision kept is not found
adequate for writing off such loans.
All out efforts should be continued for realizing written off
loans. Cases must be filed in the court of law before writing off
any loan for which no legal action has been initiated earlier.
A separate "Debt Collection Unit" should be set up in the bank
for recovery of written off loans.
 Loan Write-off Policy
In order to accelerate the settlement of law suits filed against the
written off loans or to realize the receivable written off loans any
agency outside the bank can be engaged. A separate ledger must
be maintained for written off loans and in the Annual
Report/Balance Sheet of banks there must be a separate "notes to
the accounts" containing amount of cumulative and current year's
loan written off.
Inspite of writing off the loans the concerned borrower shall be
identified as defaulter as usual. Like other loans and advances, the
writing off loans and advances shall be reported to the Credit
Information Bureau (CIB) of Bangladesh Bank.
Prior approval of Bangladesh Bank shall have to obtained in case of
writing off loans sanctioned to the director or ex-director of the
bank or loans sanctioned during the tenure of his directorship in
the bank to the enterprise in which the concerned director has
interest (as per explanation contained in section 27(2) of the Bank
Company Act, 1991).
Thank you all.