Barclays Capital's chief executive has defended the UK investment bank's position in leveraged finance, saying that its total exposure through equity bridge loans is less than $100m (€72m) compared with over $12bn mostly held by major investment banks in the US.
Bob Diamond, who was speaking yesterday at a Lehman Brothers investor conference in New York, said the investment bank has managed to syndicate or sell-down all the loans it has committed to, including high-yield loans, and it only has 2% of the loans it has originated on its balance sheet â 98% of which is ranked senior debt.
