An increasingly competitive banking industry and a more critical focus on return on capital, is shortening the decision-making horizon. There is less willingness to become drawn into complex and time-consuming loan workouts. As a result, practices such as the sale of distressed debt are becoming more common. A more competitive environment for companies means that if their financial problems are publicised, it can have a severe impact on their prospects for survival. Increasingly stringent disclosure requirements, for example for stock exchange quoted companies, exacerbate this problem. All these factors contribute to considerable instability in a workout transaction. The diverse range of interests represented in a workout add to this instability. Consequently, the time available to develop and negotiate a restructuring is curtailed.