Loans to "low-rated, highly leveraged borrowers" accounted for about 40% of new signings in syndicated loan markets from July to November – a higher share than in the years leading up to the financial crisis, according to the Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) latest quarterly review, published yesterday.

The "remarkably" high share of so-called 'leveraged' loans was the result of "both higher volumes of riskier loans and lower volumes in the safer part of the spectrum", the BIS said. The