Creditors are tempted to examine collateral assets of uncertain value, but costly information acquisition ultimately reduces financing capacity. A pecking order emerges. Debt provides greater financing capacity than equity: unlike equity, creditors own the asset only if the borrower defaults, discouraging costly asset examination. Probabilistic asset ownership can be further diluted by introducing intermediaries between borrower and creditor, leading to a new theory of financial intermediation and credit chains. Our theory rationalizes the seemingly excessive complexity of financial architecture: the optimal chain arises in a decentralized equilibrium and is characterized by a sequence of heterogeneous intermediaries that discourages information production.