Jim Bromley spoke to Reuters about why commercial bankruptcy filings have continued to fall throughout 2021, and why that trend may not last. Jim said that lenders have maintained a flexible approach to delinquent debtors, in some cases because it wouldn’t be advantageous for them to become owners of businesses that have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as movie theaters, cruise lines and theme parks. “Are creditors really interested in owning a movie theater chain at this moment? The answer is no,” he said. Instead of foreclosing, creditors have chosen to extend debt or seek increased collateral. But these aren’t long-term solutions, Jim said, and this is unlikely to remain the favored approach as the pandemic recedes. Jim also added that the rising trend for investors to take on riskier investments in pursuit of better returns will likely lead to an uptick in corporate bankruptcy filings in 2022 or 2023. “There are bad deals that are attracting a lot of money and those bad deals will go bad,” he said.