DISTRESSED DAILY: Altman Sees Peak Defaults Coming in 2021

Unprecedented debt issuance over the years could lead to a historic number of defaults driven by the coronavirus and the drop in oil prices, with a peak coming in 2021, according to Dr. Edward Altman.

• “I’m afraid we are going to have a large number of bankruptcies in the next 12 to 24 months,” the Stern School of Business, New York University professor emeritus said in a webinar sponsored by the school on Tuesday.
  • Filings typically follow a period of recession, which could be prolonged because of the virus unless a cure is “widely accepted,” he said.
• Altman ...