9. Lenders take into account a number of factors when assessing a loan. These include: maturity, credit standing, return (margin and fees), purpose, default probability and opportunities in the primary and secondary loan markets as well as alternative investments in the bond and derivative markets ("benchmarking"). The primary market is well documented and lenders are able to assess alternative opportunities with relative ease. The secondary market is less transparent and until mid-1997 there was no regular forum for tracking yields on secondary market loans, unlike in the bond market.