The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that private credit is now so intertwined with big banks and insurers that it could become a "locus of contagion" in the next financial crisis, a new report warns. A Financial Times dispatch to the Post says researchers from Moody's Analytics, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and a former top adviser to the Treasury department found private credit funds have become enmeshed with the banking system, creating "new linkages [that] introduce new modes of systemic stress." The group said, "Their opaqueness and role in making the financial network more densely interconnected mean they could disproportionately amplify a future [financial] crisis," in a study published by Moody's. Private credit has boomed in recent years as regulations put in place following the 2008 financial crisis prompted banks to tighten their lending standards. Funds, which generally lend to riskier companies with significant debt loads, are subject to looser oversight than banks, something that has prompted concern as the sector has grown. The report is one of the most comprehensive analyses on how private credit would affect the broader financial system during a period of market upheaval.