A syndicated loan is a type of loan that is granted by a group of lenders and is structured, arranged and administered by one or more commercial banks or investment banks, known as arrangers.

The syndicated loan market is the dominant form of financing for corporate operations in the United States and Europe. The US market emerged from the large leveraged buyout loans of the mid-1980s,[1]​ and the European market flourished with the launch of the euro in 1999 (in financial markets).

At the most basic level, arrangers perform the investment banking function by raising funds from investors for an issuer that is in need of funds. The issuer pays the arranger a fee for this service, and this fee increases as the complexity and risk of the loan increase. As a result, the most lucrative loans are those made to borrowers or issuers whose credit rating is at the "speculative" level and who pay spreads (premiums or margins above LIBOR in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Euribor in Europe or another base rate) sufficient to attract the interest of non-bank term investors. However, this limit constantly moves depending on market conditions.

In the US, corporate borrowers and private equity funds evenly share debt issuance. Europe, however, has less dynamic corporate activity and its issuance is dominated by venture capital funds who, in turn, determine much of the standards and practices of loan syndication.[2]​.