The Australian syndicated loan market went into reverse in the March quarter, suffering a sharp decline in volume and number of deals.According to the latest KPMG Debt Market Quarterly, the value of syndicated loan transactions fell from around US$32 billion in the December quarter to around US$10 billion in the March quarter.The number of deals fell from 60 to around 20. The report said this steep fall was consistent with global trends. The only debt capital market to defy the trend was Japan, where there was a 79 per cent increase in volume during the quarter.The first quarter is traditionally quiet and KPMG expects that deal flow will pick up during the rest of the year. A large number of Australian companies are scheduled to renew their funding this year.Participation by foreign lenders in Australian syndicated deals continues to change. The number of European lenders active in the Australian market fell from 52 in 2007 to 39 at the end of last year.Asian lenders have filled the gap. Their number has increased from 28 lenders in 2007 to 39 at the end of last year.