1.1 Problem Statement and Research Question Active loan portfolio management is becoming more and more imp- tant. In the year 2004, European banks sold credits worth EUR 249 billion. Big deals were made by the German banks Hypo Real Estate (EUR 3.6 billion) and Dresdner Bank (EUR 1.2 billion). In addition, credit exchanges were established which made loans more liquid. For example, in October 2004 the German Deutsche Kredit-B] orse was established, which focuses on trading loans assigned to medium-size businesses. It is empirically shown that active loan portfolio management can 1 be very...