LONDON/NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private credit has grown into a $1.3 trillion mountain over the last decade. When banks stopped lending to private equity firms in 2022, private credit firms stayed active. High-yield loans issued by banks and then sold on to investors in the market fell 80% in the first nine months of 2022, according to Fitch Ratings. Specialist private lenders, however, had some $390 billion of spare capital to spend, according to Preqin data. Investors who funded private lenders may be in for a shock.

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