Careful judgment by experienced credit officers or risk managers is still required, but the modern techniques developed by both academics and market practitioners are tools that facilitate a much deeper evaluation of risk than was possible even a decade ago.
These developments have been supported and encouraged by the growth of markets for syndicated loans and securitized assets and the creation of new financial instruments, such as credit derivatives, that greatly ease the dispersion of risk to those more willing and able to bear it. Do not misunderstand me.