Credit Cliff

The worst nickname possible for a banker named Clifton.

Or...a place where automobiles whose owners have defaulted are pushed into an ocean.

Both good guesses. But in finance, a credit cliff is when a firm is on the verge of receiving a downgrade in its credit rating from a rating agency.

This situation can be the result of an immediate short-term disaster—like a firm unable to service all its debts, due to a natural disaster or unforeseen event—or a long-term deterioration of its financial operations that eventually led to its struggle to meet existing and future debt obligations.