This course covers Severity of Financial Impairment, which involves assessing the extent of financial deterioration, cash flow erosion, leverage stress, and repayment incapacity within the Distressed & Structured Asset Credit (ARD) credit workflow. It focuses on evaluating the depth and nature of borrower distress to determine the seriousness of financial impairment, the likelihood of recovery, and the suitability of restructuring, rehabilitation, or recovery strategies. The course emphasizes structured execution and governance practices that support objective distress assessment, risk classification, exposure management, and informed credit decision-making. It evaluates key dimensions such as leverage stress, repayment incapacity relative to sustainable operations, sustainability of operations, and the management of stressed credit exposures, with each requiring independent validation and documented rationale before any credit action is finalized. It is distinct from broader credit management processes, as it focuses specifically on structured identification, impairment assessment, escalation management, and breach response related to borrower distress, financial deterioration, operational sustainability, and recovery prospects, while related credit management processes address wider portfolio oversight, lending strategy, credit administration, and institutional risk governance with separate evidence standards, ownership, and approval authority. Within Distress Severity & Viability Assessment, the credit analyst executes the assessment, completes documentation, and flags exceptions for manager review within Distressed & Structured Asset Credit (ARD) credit files, shaping escalation scope and operational priorities.