Diminishing volumes because of a drop in M&A and a shaky telecoms sector challenged the loan market in 2001. At the end of last year, loan bankers were confident that with an improved economic environment volumes would increase in 2002. However, with daily credit scares and profit warnings, M&A volumes show no sign of returning to the levels of 1999 and 2000, and the TMT sector has not yet stabilised. This week EuroWeek conducted a straw poll of syndication bankers at the top 12 loan houses in London to reveal what attitudes persist in the first two months of 2002.
February 15, 2002