When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center a year and a half ago, they shut down the financial district–at least temporarily–leaving all but the most creditworthy issuers able to tap the credit markets. Many companies found themselves facing short-term liquidity crises and scrambling to find cash to pay suppliers and meet payroll. The attack also got many executives thinking about scenarios that up to that point seemed unfathomable–and how their companies might meet such challenges.

Now, as the U.S. edges ever closer to war with Iraq and as the FBI and the new Department of Homeland Security warn of an upsurge in terror attacks against American targets, including financial and business venues, companies are beginning to take some steps to make sure they aren't caught short again.

For instance, during the week leading up to Feb. 14–the deadline President Bush had set for determining whether Iraq was living up to its obligation to report any weapons of mass destruction in its possession–corporate bond issuance totaled a whopping $23.2 billion, according to Moody's Investors Service. That compared with just $9.2 billion the previous week and $14 billion the week before that. To be sure, some of the increased debt issuance should be attributed to record low interest rates and corporate efforts to reduce commercial paper indebtedness. But, says Pamela Stumpp, Moody's chief credit officer for corporate finance: "There has definitely been some stepped up activity in debt issuance, and some of it is related to the threat of war and increased terrorism, which does pose a risk of liquidity shocks."