sentence: although traditionally banks have insisted on a wide range of covenants that allow them to intervene if the financial position of the borrower or the value of underlying assets deteriorates , around 2006 the increasing strength of private equity firms and the decreasing opportunities for traditional corporate loans made by bank fueled something of a '' race to the bottom '' , with syndicates of banks competing with each other to offer ever less invasive terms to borrowers in relation to leveraged buy-out .