Using detailed loan holding data of Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), we document empirical evidence for systemic risk due to leverage constraints on CLOs. Constrained CLOs fire sell loans downgraded to CCC or below, and thus loans widely held by constrained CLOs experience temporarily...

The recent global financial crisis has ignited a debate on whether easy monetary conditions can lead to greater bank risk-taking. We study this issue in a model of leveraged financial intermediaries that endogenously choose the riskiness of their portfolios. When banks can adjust their capital...