Deals

Wall Street Is Taking On More Risk Again

Recent deals show banks taking lax view on lending guidelines
Trump administration indicated plans to dial back regulations

Pedestrians walk along Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. U.S. stock-index futures advanced and volatility subsided as an escalation of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea showed signs of easing after American officials talked down the possibility of an imminent nuclear war.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

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By Sridhar Natarajan, Sally Bakewell, and Kiel Porter

February 2, 2018 at 10:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Three words have finally set Wall Street deal-makers loose: President Donald Trump.

Officially, the Trump administration has yet to rewrite Obama-era rules restricting how much debt banks can pile onto companies in buyouts. But a spate of recent transactions shows financiers are letting go of their concerns about the lending guidelines that had tied their hands in recent years.