ABSTRACT
The credit manager is often seen as something of a cynic, never believing anything he is told unless, and until, it can be verified. The embossed notepaper, the fashionable address and the imposing façade do not impress, by and large – established facts and actual experience account for much more. The cynic tag can apply simply because the credit manager is trained not to accept everything at face value, not to judge solely on appearances and certainly not to enter into the risk environment without having first weighed up all the factors. Who is to say that had the same level of ‘cynicism’ been imbued into the psyche of senior bank executives in the run up to 2007, we would not have entered the financial turmoil of 2008?
