...Some Issuance Pickup: Following the dip in primary institutional leveraged loan market issuance in December 2018 and January 2019, there was some resurgence in activity in February and March of this year. During this period, the main banking participants remained relatively the same with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs continuing to be at the top of the league tables for overall leveraged lending. Non-Bank Underwriters Remain Active: While the overall market remains dominated by the large commercial and investment banks, the higher risk leveraged buyout (LBO) market has seen migration from the regulated banking sector into the non- bank market. For example, KKR rose to the leading market share of LBOs underwritten in 1Q19, according to Bloomberg, from 12th place in the league tables in the year-ago period. As regulators have noted, non-bank entities have increased their participation in this sector through underwriting and syndication of exposure, as well...
