Underwriting

In syndicated loan transactions the Mandated Lead Arrangers may agree, for an underwriting fee, to provide the full amount of the loan facility if it proves impossible for them to syndicate the transaction to other lenders. The name derives from the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. Financial bankers, who would accept some of the risk on a given venture (historically a sea voyage with associated risks of shipwreck) in exchange for a premium, would literally write their names under the risk information that was written on a Lloyd’s slip created for this purpose.