STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 10 July 2012

[Demeter]

24. Libor Woes Threaten to Turn Companies Off Syndicated Loans

AND ABOUT TIME, TOO

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-09/libor-scandal-threatening-to-turn-companies-off-syndicated-loans.html

The scandal surrounding the London interbank offered rate is threatening to undermine confidence in syndicated loans and hasten companies’ flight to bonds.

“What corporate treasurers are concerned about is the damage this Libor problem will do to market confidence,” said John Grout, the policy and technical director at the Association of Corporate Treasurers in London, which has about 4,500 members. “If people lose trust in banks and Libor, which is indexed to a huge amount of debt and derivatives instruments, market liquidity could be reduced and borrowing costs could rise for corporates.”

...Loans are already on the wane as a funding option for companies in the U.S. and Europe. More stringent capital requirements introduced by regulators to prevent the risky lending practices that exacerbated the financial crisis have made it more expensive for banks to extend loans, and prompted lenders in Europe to pledge more than $1 trillion of balance- sheet cuts...