Preparing For Antitrust Scrutiny Of Arranger And Lender Conduct In Leveraged Loan Commitment Process

As a result of the announcement by the European Commission in its 2017 Management Plan that it will possibly engage in a sector inquiry under Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union of potential competition issues in loan syndication, banks and other financial institutions that act as arrangers and/or lenders in multi-lender leveraged lending transactions can expect increased scrutiny of their conduct with respect to compliance with antitrust and competition laws, not only in European lending but in the United States and elsewhere in the world. In announcing the possible sector inquiry, the European Commission noted that leveraged lending "exhibits close cooperation between market participants in opaque or in-transparent settings, ... which are particularly vulnerable to anti-competitive conduct. Work will focus on obtaining relevant information on market structure, dynamics between market participants and potential