银团贷款是由一组贷款方联合提供，由一家或者多家商业银行或者投资银行（代理行）组织安排及管理的贷款。代理行或者筹备方行使投资银行的角色，在借款方需要资金的时候为其筹集款项。

美国银团贷款市场起源于1980年代中期的巨额杠杆收购贷款；欧洲市场因为欧元于1999年问世而开始兴起。借款一方需要向代理行支付服务费用。服务费用随着贷款复杂性和风险因素而增加，因此向举债经营的借款人──即信用评级为投机等级，并且支付足以吸引非银行定期贷款投资者的利差（即高于LIBOR、EURIBOR或其他基准利率的利差）的借款人提供的贷款最具盈利性。

A syndicated loan is one that is provided by a group of lenders and is structured, arranged, and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks known as lead arrangers.

The syndicated loan market is the dominant way for corporations in the U.S. and Europe to receive loans from banks and other institutional financial capital providers. The U.S. market originated with the large leveraged buyout loans of the mid-1980s, and Europe's market blossomed with the launch of the euro in 1999.