This course covers External Credit Alerts, which involve assessing risk signals and warning notifications received from external sources that may indicate emerging borrower stress, deteriorating creditworthiness, or heightened portfolio risk within Credit Monitoring & Portfolio Surveillance workflows. It focuses on identifying and evaluating alerts generated from credit bureaus, rating agencies, regulatory disclosures, legal proceedings, market intelligence, public financial information, industry reports, and other third-party risk monitoring sources. The course examines how external credit alerts support the early identification of adverse developments that may not yet be visible through internal monitoring processes, enabling proactive portfolio risk management and timely escalation. It evaluates key dimensions such as control lapses, early warning signal identification, risk trend analysis, and proactive portfolio risk management, with each requiring independent validation and documented rationale before any credit action is finalized. Particular emphasis is placed on alert validation, external intelligence assessment, borrower risk evaluation, trend monitoring, exception identification, and governance oversight of externally sourced risk information. It is distinct from broader credit management processes, as it focuses specifically on the structured identification and assessment of externally generated credit risk signals and breach indicators, rather than broader credit origination, portfolio administration, or strategic management activities. Within Early Warning Signal Identification, the senior credit leader sets portfolio limits, governs exception criteria, and drives strategic alignment across the Credit Monitoring & Portfolio Surveillance function, shaping escalation scope, risk priorities, and portfolio management decisions through effective monitoring and interpretation of external credit alerts and emerging borrower risk conditions.