Junior Debt

Junior debt is another name for subordinated debt, which itself can be subdivided into several tiers. It is debt that lies below all senior secured and senior unsecured claims and sits above equity in order of repayment in liquidation. To compensate bondholders for the riskiness of this type of debt, it comes with higher yields than senior debt. Depending on the specifics of the documentation, issuers of junior debt may be disallowed from paying junior debt coupons under certain circumstances.