According to a report by Reuters, despite increase regulatory oversight, both banks and alternative lenders are still underwriting highly leveraged U.S. loans.

According to the report, based on Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing data, in Q1/17, roughly one in three buyout loans had leverage of more than 7.0x in. This comes despite lending guidelines introduced in 2013 which put greater scrutiny on ubjected loans with leverage of more than 6.0x.

Reuters said this is the highest leverage level since 2014, and that only 2007 had higher levels.