Leveraged loans

A New York judge last week dismissed a claim that a leveraged loan JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other Wall Street banks sold in 2014 could be considered a security and, as such, be subject to the same disclosure requirements as stock and bond offerings.

In a report issued Tuesday, the ratings agency notes that 1,287 companies as of April 28 faced prospects of potential debt and issuer downgrades, impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and a virtual shutdown of the global economy this spring.

Unlike public equities and even high-yield bonds, funds focused on CLO equity show little evidence of rebounding anytime soon from steep losses in total value.

The Federal Reserve's unprecedented scale of intervention sparked an immediate surge in demand for both investment-grade and junk bonds. Now that the program has started buying, it’s unclear what happens when – and if – the funding runs out.

The central bank's Financial Stability Report said companies may face difficulties repaying debt given lower earnings, “which could trigger a sizable increase in firm defaults."

J.C. Penney Co., the department-store chain that’s been negotiating with creditors on a plan to restructure in bankruptcy court, made good on a missing loan payment and said it’s still considering solutions to its crushing debt load.

The Federal Reserve said a facility designed to purchase eligible corporate debt from investors will launch today, bringing a key part of the U.S. central bank’s emergency coronavirus lending program online following weeks of anticipation

The worst recession since the Great Depression is prompting indebted companies to default, and increasingly more will do so in a way that’s harder for investors to detect.

First, J. Crew. Now Neiman Marcus. Flashing red: J.C. Penney, Hertz and many more. The coronavirus has crushed the life out of some venerable household names.

Small and mid-sized companies are facing higher borrowing costs as private lenders grow more cautious about lending to beaten-up businesses

They and other firms are seeking to replicate the windfalls many enjoyed in the aftermath of the financial crisis when, by taking advantage of low-cost loans via the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, they were able to notch double-digit returns purchasing top-rated ABS as the economy recovered

The U.S. leveraged loan market is springing back to life with new deals for T-Mobile US Inc. and Delta Air Lines on deck for investors willing to take on risk.

Competition is starting to ease in the $812 billion private credit market as the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic forces some lenders to tend to problems in their own portfolios.

Rising default levels have produced strain on many collateralized loan obligations, many of which are now approaching breaches of covenant tests on minimum weighted-average ratings factors and maximum holdings of triple-C rated loan assets.

The Distressed Credit Opportunities Fund III money pool, dubbed Disco III, will target leveraged loans, high-yield bonds and collateralized loan obligations.

Instead of just seeking out distressed situations, the Dislocation Opportunities Fund has a wide mandate to buy corporate and asset-backed debt.

The fund will be similar to the first iteration, which gathered $2.4 billion last year and focused on lending to family- and entrepreneur-owned businesses.

Analysts and ratings companies are sounding alarms as a number of BDCs rush to shore up finances, or throw lifelines to their heavily indebted borrowers.

Fitch expects a majority of European CLO junior notes to be placed on a potential downgrade watch due to enhanced evaluation for coronavirus-related stresses.

There’s no reason to punish companies for failing to see a history-changing, once-in-a-century pandemic, or anticipate the shutdowns that would result.