Asia Loan Bankers Brace for Competition, Thinner Margins in 2026

Loan bankers in Asia are bracing for an increasingly competitive market that is squeezing the returns they earn on lending, as they grapple with subdued syndicated deal flow.

Loan volumes denominated in US dollars, euros and yen — the so-called G3 currencies — in Asia Pacific outside Japan fell 6.7% to a two-year low of $189 billion in 2025 from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Uncertainty around tariffs deterred some companies from new investments, while high US interest rates pushed others to delay dollar borrowing or switch to local currency funding.