Corporate debt among non-banks exploded to $75 trillion at the end of 2019, up from $48 trillion at the end of 2009, according to the Institute of International Finance. "This certainly is another match being lit [near] the bonfire of corporate debt liabilities," said Simon MacAdam, global economist at Capital Economics. The coronavirus shockInvestors became increasingly anxious about corporate debt this week as stocks sold off and crude prices nosedived. The ability to buy or sell securities in corporate debt markets has become much more difficult. Banks are less exposed to risky corporate debt than they were to bad mortgages in 2008, according to Capital Economics' MacAdam.

Source: CNN March 14, 2020 07:18 UTC