Commercial lending

Loanpal, a provider of residential-solar loans in the U.S., is planning an initial public offering this year that could value the company at more than $10 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Bankruptcy courts saw a greater-than-average number of filings in the first quarter, though a year-on-year decline highlights the impact of cheap cash flowing to troubled borrowers.

For investment firms that profit by buying the debt of troubled companies, it looked like the opportunity of a lifetime: a $1 trillion pile of distressed bonds and loans in the Americas alone as the pandemic sent markets into meltdown last March.

The leveraged loan market has long been the favored financing source for private equity firms looking to juice returns on corporate takeovers and to reward themselves with payouts before selling their acquisitions.

Kovensky, whose departure from the posts is effective April 1, will stay on as a board member at the $17 billion credit management division of Onex Corp. Co-CEO Jason New will become head of credit as part of the transition, while Peter Zaltz will become chief investment officer.

Yellen announced she has revived a hedge fund working group so agencies can “share data, identify risks and work to strengthen our financial system."

The Spanish bank is broadening its lending to speculative-rated borrowers from its traditional focus on high-grade debt, Noya said in an interview. It’s been building a team to get more high-yield mandates in Europe and the U.S.

Don Mullen, founder and chief executive officer of Pretium Partners, says that corporate debt could underperform mortgages this year, with fewer defaults likely for real estate loans and higher recoveries for mortgage-backed instruments.

U.S. companies including Hilton and Avis are so anxious to lock in low borrowing costs now, before inflation fears push yields even higher or close the market altogether, that they’re paying millions of dollars in penalties to refinance debt early.

A PIMCO-sponsored HELOC securitzation, as well as a mortgage-insurance linked transaction, are the latest examples of issuers getting a head start on switching to an expected replacement benchmark for Libor.