A loan is a type of debt. This article focuses exclusively on monetary loans, although, in practice, any material object might be lent. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower.

The borrower initially does receive an amount of money from the lender, which they pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A loan is of the annuity type if the amount paid periodically (for paying off and interest together) is fixed.A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding. Bank loans and credit are one way to increase the money supply.Legally, a loan is a contractual promise of a debtor to repay a sum of money in exchange for the promise of a creditor to give another sum of money.

Assets have Four essential characteristics:

The probable future benefit involves a capacity, singly or in combination with other assets, in the case of profit oriented enterprises, to contribute directly or indirectly to future net cash flows, and, in the case of not-for-profit organizations, to provide services

The transaction or event giving rise to the entity's right to, or control of, the benefit has already occurred.It is not necessary, in the financial accounting sense of the term, for control of assets to the benefit to be legally enforceable for a resource to be an asset, provided the entity can control its use by other means.

It is important to understand that in an accounting sense an asset is not the same as ownership. In accounting, ownership is described by the term "equity," (see the related term shareholders' equity). Assets are equal to "equity" plus "liabilities."

A loan covenant is a condition in a commercial loan or bond issue that requires the borrower to fulfill certain conditions or which forbids the borrower from undertaking certain actions, or which possibly restricts certain activities to circumstances when other conditions are met.

Typically, violation of a covenant may result in a default on the loan being declared, penalties being applied, or the loan being called.Covenants may also be waived, either temporarily or permanently, usually at the sole discretion of the lender.

A good example for understanding Loan Covenants would be syndicate loans. Where several banks act as party to loans and borrower may be one or several.Financial institutions provide a service as intermediaries of the capital and debt markets. They are responsible for transferring funds from investors to companies, in need of those funds.

The presence of financial institutions facilitate the flow of monies through the economy. To do so, savings are pooled to mitigate the risk broughtovide funds for loans. Such is the primary means for depository institutions to develop revenue. Should the yield curve become inverse, firms in this arena will offer additional fee-generating services including securities underwriting, and prime brokerage.