July 01, 2014
Follows similar concerns by US regulators over tail-risk management.
The Bank of England said July 1, 2014 that it would scrutinize lending standards in the leveraged loan markets more closely, fearing that they have deteriorated too much to guard against tail risks.
The Bank of England said July 1, 2014 that it would scrutinize lending standards in the leveraged loan markets more closely, fearing that they have deteriorated too much to guard against tail risks.
The Bank said in June that spreads on new leveraged loans in the US and Europe are at their lowest levels since 2008. Specifically worrying is the fact that the proportion of cov lite loans in US CLOs is now up to over 50 percent, compared to a pre-crisis peak of 29 percent.
The Bank also noted that LBO debt ratios in the US and Europe are a levels last seen just prior to the crisis, and it has also seen higher loan to value ratios in US commercial real estate loans.
The US Federal Reserve and other bank regulators have been increasingly vocal about the dangers of leveraged loan term loosening in the US. However, neither US nor UK regulators seem to be willing to step in as of yet.