Global Trends In Leveraged Lending

Global trends in leveraged lending in 2013 have largely been driven by substantial liquidity in US dollar markets, together with cautious investor optimism in the face of regulatory and political black clouds on the horizon. In the face of continued Eurozone uncertainty, US fiscal policy ineffectiveness, US debt default posturing, and frothy asset markets with relatively anemic growth in maturing economies, the leveraged finance market has nonetheless remained relatively stable and a backbone to global economic stability in 2013. We discuss below specific trends in leveraged lending from 2013.

1. Market Ended Strongly

Although the market faltered at times in the early part of 2013 and the yield curve moved dramatically as a result of concerns that the US Federal Reserve would rapidly taper monetary stimulus, the global leveraged markets recovered and finished on a positive note at the end of 2013; we note, in particular, that this was despite the European market