Tight spreads and growing liquidity risks promise to present financial firms with steep challenges in the coming months.
Supply chain financing lets companies stretch payment terms without hurting their suppliers’ cash flow.
Moody's says credit risk is rising at a time when the average dollar amount of negative equity at trade-in is at record levels.
"There are signs of growing credit risk, particularly among loans related to energy and agriculture,” said the FDIC's chairman.
With debt burdens approaching the levels of the last LBO boom, the ratings agency warns there could be trouble for issuers.
American Apparel doesn't have enough cash on hand to make its next debt payment, $13.9 million due on Oct. 15.
Women are more likely to have to put their personal credit at risk and they have less access to trade credit than male business owners, says Experian.
Leveraged loans show evidence of "risk management weaknesses," including dated valuations and poor credit analysis, regulators said in an annual review.
There is too much variability in the credit risk banks are assigning to different kinds of assets, says the the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Covenant protections on highly leveraged loans continue to weaken, meaning lenders will be vulnerable if a borrower experiences financial distress.
Most new leveraged loans are covenant-lite and carry ratings well-below investment grade from Standard & Poor's.
As they pile up in cash accounts, undistributed foreign profits are inflating U.S. multinationals' valuations and making companies appear less leveraged.
