The Rise of Leverage

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the first of the changes in logic and practice in the fields of finance and non-financial corporates with which the book is concerned: the rise of the leveraged capital structure. It explores the implications of the leveraged capital structure for the ways in which corporate reorganization law is mobilized and adapted by the participants in the corporate reorganization process. It argues that the first step in analysing these new adaptations is to focus on the concepts which are used to describe them. It further argues that when this is done certain implications are revealed for current debates about the content and reform of US corporate reorganization law. It argues that England has had fewer problems in framing appropriate concepts for analysing the new adaptations which are under examination in the chapter. However, it hints at potential challenges for England for the future, developed later in the book.