Changed circumstances and loan agreements

Abstract

Some general observations
This article is based on a lecture/seminar given at the Stockholm Center for Commercial law in September 2009. The topic for this lecture was overriding aspects on the recent financial crisis and some private law consequences thereof. In this article I shall delve mainly into one particular question which was raised in my lecture, namely the question of changed circumstances in connection with loan agreements.
During the last 20 years period there have been several events seriously affecting the financial markets regionally or even globally. These financial calamities have sometimes involved mainly the financial markets or parts of them, but in other cases, and very often so, they also affected the “real economy”. 1 It is probably true to say that a serious financial calamity will always in one way or the other also have an impact on the real economy. Under all circumstances the present financial crisis, often regarded to have started in the US during 2007, has had fundamental effect on the various relations where banks are involved: the relation between banks, between banks and their customers as well as between banks and governments (public authorities). It is evident from this crisis that it is hard to find measures and methods whereby to restrain the actors and the activities in the financial markets, unless very harsh and therefore unwanted measures are taken.