In the latest symptom of Europe's financial turmoil, the region's riskier companies are bypassing banks and investors at home and turning to the US for loans.

European companies borrowed some €14.4bn in the US leveraged-loan market this year through Friday, more than double the €6.7bn for all of 2011, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That is the highest amount since at least 2007, the height of the last boom in leveraged lending, when full-year loan volume was €12.2bn, according to S&P.