The volume of global syndicated loans has increased from $413 billion in 1990 to $2.195 trillion in 2000, making it not only the largest source of corporate funds in the world but also one of the fastest growing. Yet despite the size of this market and its importance as a source of corporate...

This paper examines how legal risk, defined as the strength of creditor rights and legal enforcement, affects debt ownership concentration in the project finance loan market. Using a sample of 495 project finance loan tranches from 61 countries, worth $151 billion, we document high levels of...