Preface Since the early part of this decade, the leveraged finance market has seen dramatic growth on the back of private equity-sponsored leveraged buyouts (LBOs). This has substantially increased the significance of leveraged finance in the global financial system. At its March 2007 meeting, the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) asked a Working Group chaired by Henk Brouwer of the Netherlands Bank to investigate the role, importance and characteristics of the various market participants in the functioning of leveraged finance markets and their interplay with private equity. As conditions in the leveraged finance market deteriorated rapidly after July 2007, the Working Group focused on the main risks that have either unfolded or increased materially. Against this backdrop, the report addresses two broad questions. First, what have been the important trends during the period of rapid growth in the markets for leveraged finance, private equity and LBOs, and how has the market growth affected corporate finance? Second, how have leveraged finance markets performed since mid-2007, which risks have surfaced, and what preliminary lessons can be drawn for financial stability? This report was presented to the CGFS in May 2008 and covers developments up to the first quarter of 2008. Donald L Kohn Chairman, Committee on the Global Financial System Vice Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
CGFS Private equity and leveraged finance markets