This article reviews the origin and spread of the distressed debt problem in the transition region. We argue that while the crisis was triggered abroad, the current high level of distressed debt in various transition countries mainly reflects home-grown vulnerabilities. As in the West, the root...

To what extent was the credit contraction during the global financial crisis due to more intense screening and monitoring by banks? We address this question by analysing changes in the structure of a large number of syndicated loans to private, non-financial corporations. We find an increase in...