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High-Yield Debt Covenants and Their Real Effects

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Abstract

High-yield debt, including leveraged loans, features incurrence financial covenants or "cov-lite" provisions. These covenants differ from traditional loans' maintenance covenants, as they preserve equity control rights but impose specific restrictions on the borrower after crossing the covenant threshold. Contrary to the prevailing belief that incurrence covenants offer limited protection for creditors, our research reveals a significant and sudden decline in investment upon triggering these covenants. This evidence highlights a novel propagation mechanism for economic shocks, wherein contractual restrictions play a crucial role in the highly-leveraged corporate sector, becoming binding well before default or bankruptcy occurs.

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  • Falk Bräuning & Victoria Ivashina & Ali Ozdagli, 2023. "High-Yield Debt Covenants and Their Real Effects," Working Papers 2311, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddwp:96606
    DOI: 10.24149/wp2311
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    Cited by:

    1. Sharjil M. Haque, 2023. "Does Private Equity Over-Lever Portfolio Companies?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Falk Bräuning & Gustavo Joaquim & Hillary Stein, 2023. "Interest Expenses, Coverage Ratio, and Firm Distress," Current Policy Perspectives 96664, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    high-yield debt; corporate debt; covenants; incurrence covenants; cov-lite; amplification mechanisms; contracts; contingent contracting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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