Commercial lending

The biggest U.S. banks reduced the portion of their collective balance sheets they’re dedicating to loans to a new low, extending a trend that’s seen the largest lenders put less and less of their firepower behind everyday borrowers.

The rise in sales comes as risk premiums for new transactions have tightened to pre-pandemic levels, marking a stark turnaround in a sector with heavy exposure to company bankruptcies caused by the lockdowns.

A consensual deal cuts legal costs and hastens a Chapter 11 exit, but plans block possible restructuring proposals that can curb cash payouts to lower-ranking creditors.

Environmental, social and governance issues topped the list of risk managers’ concerns in a Deloitte poll .

AMC and American Airlines took advantage of surprise stock-price surges to cash out shares and raise liquidity for possible debt reduction — a massive stroke of good fortune for the companies as well as their creditors.

The struggling movie-theater chain is among once-risky debt investments reaping big gains after day traders helped fuel the sudden stock surge.

Cheap funding costs have extended a lifeline to many troubled companies, slowing the pace of U.S. bankruptcy filings, but shops, offices and hotels have been particularly vulnerable to the pandemic this month.

About $16 billion across 43 deals in both new-issue and refinancing has prompted analysts into making early revisions to raise their initial volume forecasts.

The online lender is looking to price its second securitization deal of 2021, following last week's closing of a pass-through notes offering via its master trust.

Declining month-over-month delinquency levels and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations potentially give hope to more normalized economic activity.

The two deals will add to the pipeline of 2021 prime auto-lease transactions led earlier this month by Hyundai Capital America.

More may be on the horizon as lenders lose patience with defaulting property owners.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Jan.7-14

A slower-than-expected rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the threat of social unrest after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol could threaten the recovery, according to an American Bankers Association panel.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

The notes offering is the largest among the 21 auto-lease deals HCA has issued since 2011, and the fourth that has topped $1 billion in offered notes.

Distressed debt funds on average gained 11.4%, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., compared to the riskiest corporate bonds rising 2.3%.

Energy, retail and consumer services companies led a total of 244 filings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Reports indicate distressed owners would rather surrender their hotel or retail properties instead of negotiate workouts on delinquent loans as the pandemic spread carries on.

Bausch, formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, has paid down more than $24 billion of the $32 billion in leverage it owed five years ago from a debt-driven acquisition spree — which ended after a drug-pricing scandal.