We study the problem of finding the worst-case joint distribution of a set of risk factors given prescribed multivariate marginals with nonlinear loss function. The method has applications to any situation where marginals are provided, and bounds need to be determined on total portfolio risk....

This interdisciplinary paper explains how mathematical techniques of stochastic optimal control can be applied to the recent subprime mortgage crisis. Why did the financial markets fail to anticipate the recent debt crisis, despite the large literature in mathematical finance concerning optimal...

The algorithm for optimization of a credit portfolio has not been fully demonstrated. This paper fills the gap in the literature by presenting a general approach for optimizing a credit portfolio by minimizing the default risk of the entire portfolio. Default risk is measured with quadratic...

We develop a fixed income portfolio framework capturing the exponential decay of contagious intensities between successive default events. We show that the value function of the control problem is the classical solution to a recursive system of second-order uniformly parabolic...

We address a credit risk model with optimal switching in which a firm optimally switches between two different diffusion regimes. A default boundary and the switching thresholds are endogenously determined, and we examine how the triggers and credit spreads are affected by the differences in...

The Firm-Value Risk Model combines the technology of actuarial optimal dividends models with insights regarding financial frictions from financial economics, especially as they apply to risk transfer in (re)insurance firms. This paper illustrates, by numerical solution of a set of case studies,...

Banks increasingly recognize the need to measure and manage the credit risk of their loans on a portfolio basis. We address the subportfolio "middle market". Due to their specific lending policy for this market segment it is an important task for banks to systematically identify regional and...

We discuss risk measures representing the minimum amount of capital a financial institution needs to raise and invest in a pre-specified eligible asset to ensure it is adequately capitalized. Most of the literature has focused on cash-additive risk measures, for which the eligible asset is a...