{"id":937232,"date":"2026-02-17T09:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/survey-reveals-lender-concern-with-fraud-defaults-and-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T09:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:57:07","slug":"survey-reveals-lender-concern-with-fraud-defaults-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/survey-reveals-lender-concern-with-fraud-defaults-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey Reveals Lender Concern with Fraud, Defaults and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON , Feb. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the results of its 2026 Leveraged Loan Market Survey<\/em><\/a>, which found that\u00a0despite another solid year for leveraged credit, lenders remain cautious due to above average loan default volumes, heightened fraud concerns and uncertainty around AI investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t exactly an idyllic year for leveraged lenders. Loan default volumes remained above average, liability management exercises kept coming and heightened fraud concerns became a topic of conversation,\u201d said Chuck Carroll<\/a>, Leader of the Senior Lender Advisory practice at FTI Consulting. \u201cNew issuance volumes were also still dominated by refinancing activity and leveraged M&A activity. While the loan market for M&A was much improved thanks to some large value deals, it didn\u2019t meet lofty volume expectations going into the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual survey offers insight into bank and non-bank lenders\u2019 perspectives on the state of U.S. leveraged lending and highlights expectations for leveraged credit market conditions in the year ahead.<\/p>\n

The survey highlights clear lender concern about a consumer economy in distress. Retail and consumer products remained the industry sector perceived most likely to experience distress this year, while restaurants and dining moved into second place, followed by healthcare. Notably, real estate fell to seventh place this year compared to second place last year.<\/p>\n

Headlines about alleged fraud in the lending sector also elevated concerns about incidents and detection. Only 21% of respondents said they were strongly confident in the current level of fraud risk oversight in the leveraged credit market, while 60% were somewhat confident and 19% were not confident.<\/p>\n

Feelings about AI were complex and mixed. While 53% of respondents believe AI impacts over the next few years will improve information flow among involved parties, nearly a quarter of respondents (21%) believe an AI investment crash is the most underestimated financial market risk for 2026.<\/p>\n

More key findings from the survey include:<\/p>\n