Investors are giving up many of the protections that have accompanied lending to risky companies with the hunt for yield shifting the balance toward borrowers, according to Financial Times.

Many of the most indebted companies are issuing new loans without covenants, which limit the debt they can take on or which give lenders a big say in the business if its results starts to lag.

The proportion of cov-lite loans rose to more than 50% of leveraged loan issuance this year, twice that during the credit boom in 2007.