Loan syndication is a method banks use to facilitate large loans.
The process allows the borrower to receive funding from multiple lenders simultaneously, thereby spreading risk.
It’s a way for banks to share risk and diversify their investments by working together on the same loan.
In practice, this means that several banks will work together as investors in one or more loans made by a borrower.
The borrower pays interest on each of these separate parts of the loan, with each bank receiving their own portion of the profits from their investment.
In addition to reducing risk for individual lenders, syndication can also increase capital available for borrowers that would otherwise not be able to obtain loans at all due to a project’s capital intensivity, high debt-to-income ratios, or other credit issues.
This allows borrowers who might otherwise have trouble obtaining financing at reasonable rates access funds they need while being able to pay competitive interest rates based on aggregated demand among multiple financial institutions rather than just one institution.
Banks participating in syndicated loans may also require collateral, insurance or other remedies to secure their own investments.
Collateral is property that the borrower pledges to ensure repayment of the loan. Collateral can be real estate or it can be an investment in a commercial enterprise; it’s any asset that has value and can be sold if needed.
In addition to providing security for lenders, collateral also helps make sure that everyone gets paid back — if one lender doesn’t get all its money back, another lender can pursue legal action against the borrower’s assets until they’re satisfied by their share of recovered funds.
Additionally, banks may require insurance policies that protect against losses of the debtor’s assets due to country risk, and other force majeure events.
While participation in syndicated loans can yield attractive return rates for commercial banks, these investments are typically more expensive due to their high risk level.
Syndicated loans are typically secured by collateral, but the lender has a significant amount of exposure if the borrower defaults on the loan.
In general, large commercial banks will see a better return on investment (ROI) than larger institutions due to their ability to negotiate better terms with borrowers as well as their significant capital base which means they will have more money at stake per individual transaction, usually above 100 Million USD syndicate member.
However, there is still an element of uncertainty involved given that these deals often contain complicated structures such as subordination provisions or cross-collateralization features that could increase losses should any one counterparty fail.
