Bankruptcies Started Surging Even Before Bank Failures, UBS Says

Corporate bankruptcy filings were already surging to begin the year, even before tighter lending standards brought about by recent bank failures, according to UBS.

• “While public filings have picked up in February, consistent with S&P reporting 15 defaults in the month (the highest total since November 2020), private filings YTD have surpassed their COVID peak by a wide margin,” UBS strategists led by Matthew Mish wrote Tuesday in a note
• “While admittedly fiscal stimulus and the Fed’s Main Street Lending Program suppressed filings in 2020, the YTD spike is nevertheless stark — outright and relative to public filings — and ...