Of course, the subprime crisis is a key element of the credit crunch. But there has also been another force: the huge build up of leveraged loans for mega buyouts.

Well, with the help of sovereign wealth funds -- and even some private equity firms, like TPG -- the subprime problem appears to be improving. And, interestingly enough, it looks like banks are also effectively dealing with the leverage loan overhang. This according to a piece in FinancialNews.com.

Basically, the backlog is now at $91 billion (which is a drop of nearly 60% so far this year). But we are already seeing signs that banks are opening up to new loans, such as with Basell's buyout of Lyondell Chemical Company. The major banks need the deal flow from private equity firms because of the juicy fees. So it's no surprise that we've seen a lot of action in getting things moving again.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.