19. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CREDIT QUALITY OF FINANCING RECEIVABLES AND ALLOWANCE FOR LOSSES ON FINANCING RECEIVABLES

Credit Quality Indicators

Detailed information about the credit quality of our Commercial, Real Estate and Consumer financing receivables portfolios is provided below. For each portfolio, we describe the characteristics of the financing receivables and provide information about collateral, payment performance, credit quality indicators and impairment. We manage these portfolios using delinquency and nonaccrual data as key performance indicators. The categories used within this section such as impaired loans, troubled debt restructuring (TDR) and nonaccrual financing receivables are defined by the authoritative guidance and we base our categorization on the related scope and definitions contained in the related standards. The categories of nonaccrual and delinquent are used in our process for managing our financing receivables.

• Included $1,549 million and $1,397 million at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, that are currently paying in accordance with their contractual terms.
• Included $1,018 million and $2,308 million at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, that are currently paying in accordance with their contractual terms.
• Included $1,231 million and $1,197 million of Consumer loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, that are over 90 days past due and continue to accrue interest until the accounts are written off in the period that the account becomes 180 days past due.
• Included $179 million and $324 million at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, that are currently paying in accordance with their contractual terms.

• Write-offs to net realizable value are recognized against the allowance for losses primarily in the reporting period in which management has deemed all or a portion of the financing receivable to be uncollectible, but not later than 360 days after initial recognition of a specific reserve for a collateral dependent loan. However, in accordance with regulatory standards that are applicable in Italy, commercial loans are considered uncollectible when there is demonstrable evidence of the debtor’s insolvency, which may result in write-offs occurring beyond 360 days after initial recognition of a specific reserve.
• We recognized $178 million and $218 million of interest income, including none and $60 million on a cash basis, at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, principally in our CLL Americas business. The total average investment in impaired loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $3,596 million and $4,445 million, respectively.
• We recognized $56 million and $187 million of interest income, including none and $135 million on a cash basis, at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The total average investment in impaired loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $2,971 million and $4,746 million, respectively.
• We recognized $126 million and $221 million of interest income, including $5 million, and $3 million on a cash basis, at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, principally in our Consumer-U.S. installment and revolving credit portfolios. The total average investment in impaired loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013 was $2,667 million and $3,156 million, respectively.

We regularly review our Real Estate loans for impairment using both quantitative and qualitative factors, such as debt service coverage and loan-to-value ratios. We evaluate a Real Estate loan for impairment when the most recent valuation reflects a projected loan-to-value ratio at maturity in excess of 100%, even if the loan is currently paying in accordance with its contractual terms.

Of our $1,872 million of impaired loans at Real Estate at December 31, 2014, $1,641 million are currently paying in accordance with the contractual terms of the loan and are typically loans where the borrower has adequate debt service coverage to meet contractual interest obligations. Impaired loans at CLL primarily represent senior secured lending positions.

Our loss mitigation strategy is intended to minimize economic loss and, at times, can result in rate reductions, principal forgiveness, extensions, forbearance or other actions, which may cause the related loan to be classified as a troubled debt restructuring (TDR), and also as impaired. The determination of whether these changes to the terms and conditions of our commercial loans meet the TDR criteria includes our consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances. At December 31, 2014, TDRs included in impaired loans were $5,806 million, primarily relating to Consumer ($2,132 million), CLL ($1,869 million) and Real Estate ($1,757 million).

Impaired loans classified as TDRs in our CLL business were $1,869 million and $2,961 million at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, and were primarily attributable to CLL Americas ($1,031 million and $1,770 million, respectively). At December 31, 2014, we modified $926 million of loans classified as TDRs, primarily in CLL Americas ($515 million). Changes to these loans primarily included extensions, interest only payment periods, debt to equity exchange and forbearance or other actions, which are in addition to, or sometimes in lieu of, fees and rate increases. Of our $926 million and $1,509 million of modifications classified as TDRs at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, $36 million and $71 million have subsequently experienced a payment default at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Real Estate TDRs decreased from $3,625 million at December 31, 2013 to $1,757 million at December 31, 2014, primarily driven by resolution of TDRs through paydowns. For borrowers with demonstrated operating capabilities, we work to restructure loans when the cash flow and projected value of the underlying collateral support repayment over the modified term. We deem loan modifications to be TDRs when we have granted a concession to a borrower experiencing financial difficulty and we do not receive adequate compensation in the form of an effective interest rate that is at current market rates of interest given the risk characteristics of the loan or other consideration that compensates us for the value of the concession. The limited liquidity and higher return requirements in the real estate market for loans with higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratios has typically resulted in the conclusion that the modified terms are not at current market rates of interest, even if the modified loans are expected to be fully recoverable. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we modified $672 million of loans classified as TDRs. Changes to these loans primarily included forbearance, maturity extensions and changes to collateral or covenant terms or other actions, which are in addition to, or sometimes in lieu of, fees and rate increases. We received the same or additional compensation in the form of rate increases and fees for the majority of these TDRs. Of our $672 million and $1,595 million of modifications classified as TDRs during 2014 and 2013, respectively, $252 million and $197 million have subsequently experienced a payment default in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The substantial majority of the Real Estate TDRs have reserves determined based upon collateral value. Our specific reserves on Real Estate TDRs were $25 million and $70 million and were 1.4% and 1.9%, of Real Estate TDRs, respectively, at December 31, 2014 and 2013. In many situations these loans did not require a specific reserve as collateral value adequately covered our recorded investment in the loan. While these modified loans had adequate collateral coverage, we were still required to complete our TDR classification evaluation on each of the modifications without regard to collateral adequacy.

Impaired loans in our Consumer business represent restructured smaller balance homogeneous loans meeting the definition of a TDR, and are therefore subject to the disclosure requirement for impaired loans, and commercial loans in our Consumer–Other portfolio. The recorded investment of these impaired loans totaled $2,180 million (with an unpaid principal balance of $2,271 million) and comprised $138 million with no specific allowance, primarily all in our Consumer–Other portfolio, and $2,042 million with a specific allowance of $408 million at December 31, 2014. The impaired loans with a specific allowance included $70 million with a specific allowance of $7 million in our Consumer–Other portfolio and $1,972 million with a specific allowance of $401 million across the remaining Consumer business and had an unpaid principal balance and average investment of $2,092 million and $2,547 million, respectively, at December 31, 2014.

Impaired loans classified as TDRs in our Consumer business were $2,132 million and $2,874 million at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. We utilize certain loan modification programs for borrowers experiencing financial difficulties in our Consumer loan portfolio. These loan modification programs primarily include interest rate reductions and payment deferrals in excess of three months, which were not part of the terms of the original contract, and are primarily concentrated in our non-U.S. residential mortgage and U.S. credit card portfolios. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we modified $981 million of consumer loans for borrowers experiencing financial difficulties, which are classified as TDRs, and included $506 million of non-U.S. consumer loans, primarily residential mortgages, credit cards and personal loans and $475 million of U.S. consumer loans, primarily credit cards. We expect borrowers whose loans have been modified under these programs to continue to be able to meet their contractual obligations upon the conclusion of the modification. Of our $981 million and $1,441 million of modifications classified as TDRs during 2014 and 2013, respectively, $102 million and $266 million have subsequently experienced a payment default in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

We also utilize certain short-term (three months or less) loan modification programs for borrowers experiencing temporary financial difficulties in our Consumer loan portfolio, which are not classified as TDRs. These loan modification programs are primarily concentrated in our non-U.S. residential mortgage and non-U.S. installment and revolving portfolios. We sold our U.S. residential mortgage business in 2007 and, as such, do not participate in the U.S. government-sponsored mortgage modification programs. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we provided short-term modifications of $45 million of consumer loans for borrowers experiencing financial difficulties, substantially all in our non-U.S. residential mortgage, credit card and personal loan portfolios. For these modified loans, we provided insignificant interest rate reductions and payment deferrals, which were not part of the terms of the original contract. We expect borrowers whose loans have been modified under these short-term programs to continue to be able to meet their contractual obligations upon the conclusion of the short-term modification.

Supplemental Credit Quality Information

Commercial

Substantially all of our Commercial financing receivables portfolio is secured lending and we assess the overall quality of the portfolio based on the potential risk of loss measure. The metric incorporates both the borrower’s credit quality along with any related collateral protection.

Our internal risk ratings process is an important source of information in determining our allowance for losses and represents a comprehensive approach to evaluate risk in our financing receivables portfolios. In deriving our internal risk ratings, we stratify our Commercial portfolios into 21 categories of default risk and/or six categories of loss given default to group into three categories: A, B and C. Our process starts by developing an internal risk rating for our borrowers, which is based upon our proprietary models using data derived from borrower financial statements, agency ratings, payment history information, equity prices and other commercial borrower characteristics. We then evaluate the potential risk of loss for the specific lending transaction in the event of borrower default, which takes into account such factors as applicable collateral value, historical loss and recovery rates for similar transactions, and our collection capabilities. Our internal risk ratings process and the models we use are subject to regular monitoring and internal controls. The frequency of rating updates is set by our credit risk policy, which requires annual Risk Committee approval.

As described above, financing receivables are assigned one of 21 risk ratings based on our process and then these are grouped by similar characteristics into three categories in the table below. Category A is characterized by either high-credit-quality borrowers or transactions with significant collateral coverage that substantially reduces or eliminates the risk of loss in the event of borrower default. Category B is characterized by borrowers with weaker credit quality than those in Category A, or transactions with moderately strong collateral coverage that minimizes but may not fully mitigate the risk of loss in the event of default. Category C is characterized by borrowers with higher levels of default risk relative to our overall portfolio or transactions where collateral coverage may not fully mitigate a loss in the event of default.

For our secured financing receivables portfolio, our collateral position and ability to work out problem accounts mitigate our losses. Our asset managers have deep industry expertise that enables us to identify the optimum approach to default situations. We price risk premiums for weaker credits at origination, closely monitor changes in creditworthiness through our risk ratings and watch list process, and are engaged early with deteriorating credits to minimize economic loss. Secured financing receivables within risk Category C are predominantly in our CLL businesses and are primarily composed of senior term lending facilities and factoring programs secured by various asset types including inventory, accounts receivable, cash, equipment and related business facilities as well as franchise finance activities secured by underlying equipment.

Loans within Category C are reviewed and monitored regularly, and classified as impaired when it is probable that they will not pay in accordance with contractual terms. Our internal risk rating process identifies credits warranting closer monitoring; and as such, these loans are not necessarily classified as nonaccrual or impaired.

Our unsecured Commercial financing receivables portfolio is primarily attributable to our Interbanca S.p.A. and GE Sanyo Credit acquisitions in CLL International. At December 31, 2014 and 2013, these financing receivables included $332 million and $313 million rated A, $408 million and $580 million rated B, and $201 million and $231 million rated C, respectively.

Real Estate

Due to the primarily non-recourse nature of our Debt portfolio, loan-to-value ratios (the ratio of the outstanding debt on a property to the re-indexed value of that property) provide the best indicators of the credit quality of the portfolio.

The credit quality of the owner occupied/credit tenant portfolio is primarily influenced by the strength of the borrower’s general credit quality, which is reflected in our internal risk rating process, consistent with the process we use for our Commercial portfolio. As of December 31, 2014, the balances of our owner occupied/credit tenant portfolio with an internal risk rating of A, B and C approximated $589 million, $70 million and $90 million, respectively, as compared to the December 31, 2013, balances of $571 million, $179 million and $162 million, respectively.

The financing receivables within our Debt portfolio are primarily concentrated in our North American and European Lending platforms and are secured by various property types. A substantial majority of our Debt financing receivables with loan-to-value ratios greater than 95% are paying in accordance with contractual terms. Substantially all of these loans and the majority of our owner occupied/credit tenant financing receivables included in Category C are impaired loans that are subject to the specific reserve evaluation process. The ultimate recoverability of impaired loans is driven by collection strategies that do not necessarily depend on the sale of the underlying collateral and include full or partial repayments through third-party refinancing and restructurings.

Consumer

At December 31, 2014, our U.S. consumer financing receivables included private-label credit card and sales financing for approximately 64 million customers across the U.S. with no metropolitan area accounting for more than 6% of the portfolio. Of the total U.S. consumer financing receivables, approximately 67% relate to credit card loans that are often subject to profit and loss sharing arrangements with the retailer (which are recorded in revenues), and the remaining 33% are sales finance receivables that provide financing to customers in areas such as electronics, recreation, medical and home improvement.

Our Consumer financing receivables portfolio comprises both secured and unsecured lending. Secured financing receivables comprise residential loans and lending to small and medium-sized enterprises predominantly secured by auto and equipment, inventory finance, and cash flow loans. Unsecured financing receivables include private-label credit card financing. A substantial majority of these cards are not for general use and are limited to the products and services sold by the retailer. The private-label portfolio is diverse with no metropolitan area accounting for more than 5% of the related portfolio.

Non-U.S. residential mortgages

For our secured non-U.S. residential mortgage book, we assess the overall credit quality of the portfolio through loan-to-value ratios (the ratio of the outstanding debt on a property to the value of that property at origination). In the event of default and repossession of the underlying collateral, we have the ability to remarket and sell the properties to eliminate or mitigate the potential risk of loss.

The majority of these financing receivables are in our U.K. and France portfolios and have re-indexed loan-to-value ratios of 70% and 55%, respectively. Re-indexed loan-to-value ratios may not reflect actual realizable values of future repossessions. We have third-party mortgage insurance for about 21% of the balance of Consumer non-U.S. residential mortgage loans with loan-to-value ratios greater than 90% at December 31, 2014. Such loans were primarily originated in France and the U.K.

Installment and Revolving Credit

We assess overall credit quality using internal and external credit scores. For our U.S. installment and revolving credit portfolio we use Fair Isaac Corporation (“FICO”) scores. FICO scores are generally obtained at origination of the account and are refreshed at a minimum quarterly, but could be as often as weekly, to assist in predicting customer behavior. We categorize these credit scores into the following three categories; (a) 661 or higher, which are considered the strongest credits; (b) 601 to 660, which are considered moderate credit risk; and (c) 600 or less, which are considered weaker credits.

For our non-U.S. installment and revolving credit, our internal credit scores imply a probability of default that we consistently translate into three approximate credit bureau equivalent credit score categories, including (a) 671 or higher, which are considered the strongest credits; (b) 626 to 670, which are considered moderate credit risk; and (c) 625 or less, which are considered weaker credits.

U.S. installment and revolving credit accounts with FICO scores of 600 or less and non U.S. installment and revolving credit accounts with credit bureau equivalent scores of 625 or less have an average outstanding balance less than one thousand U.S. dollars and are primarily concentrated in our retail card and sales finance receivables in the U.S. and closed-end loans outside the U.S., which minimizes the potential for loss in the event of default. For lower credit scores, we adequately price for the incremental risk at origination and monitor credit migration through our risk ratings process. We continuously adjust our credit line underwriting management and collection strategies based on customer behavior and risk profile changes.

Consumer – Other

We develop our internal risk ratings for this portfolio in a manner consistent with the process used to develop our Commercial credit quality indicators, described above. We use the borrower’s credit quality and underlying collateral strength to determine the potential risk of loss from these activities.

At December 31, 2014, Consumer – Other financing receivables of $5,006 million, $276 million and $382 million were rated A, B and C, respectively. At December 31, 2013, Consumer – Other financing receivables of $6,137 million, $315 million and $501 million were rated A, B and C, respectively.