We analyze participation by investment banks and other nonbank lenders in syndicated loan financings. We find that investment banks are more likely than commercial banks to lead syndicates to riskier borrowers and they participate more often than commercial banks in the riskier tranches of...

We question the validity of the broad consensus in the literature that loans are unique relative to other financial contracts. Research in this area is event-study driven and implicitly assumes that relatively small samples of loan announcements adequately represent all bank loans. Our analysis...