Carney Gets Crisis Deja Vu Looking at Risky Company Debt Surge

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said corporate borrowing is the big worry when it comes to global debt because standards have slipped and risks have risen.

“Like households, companies repaired their balance sheets following the crisis but unlike households, corporates then went back to the well,” he said in a speech in London Tuesday. “Relative to earnings, aggregate corporate debt in the U.S. and U.K. is nearing pre-crisis peaks, and the distribution is worsening. In the U.K., the share of highly levered companies is above pre-crisis levels.”