Business & Finance

US bank regulators say pandemic drove up risk in leveraged lending

  • A new regulatory report found that the level of "non-pass" loans nearly doubled in 2020, rising from 6.9% to 12.4%, with most of those riskier loans held by nonbanks.
Published February 25, 2021 Updated February 25, 2021 08:08pm
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WASHINGTON: The credit risk for large, syndicated loans, including leveraged loans, remains high and increased in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took an economic toll, US bank regulators cautioned Thursday.

A new regulatory report found that the level of "non-pass" loans nearly doubled in 2020, rising from 6.9% to 12.4%, with most of those riskier loans held by nonbanks.

US banks accounted for 45% of the $5.1 trillion in large, syndicated loans, but held less than 25% of all non-pass loans.