Our Services

Thanks to its significant experience and extensive network, Fi-Nest can provide a range of services to manage your risk or to arrange liquidity for your operations:

Trade Finance

Trade Finance is defined as the short term financing of current trade transactions through the use of traditional banking products such as Bills of Exchange, Letters of Credit, invoice discounting.

Commodity Trade Flow Finance

A variant of Trade Finance which covers Export Finance, Inventory Finance, Receivable Finance, Margin Finance for short term transactions (up to 90 days) on a revoving basis.

Supply Chain Finance

This form of financing takes into account the whole supply chain from suppliers, distributors, transporters, storage facilities and buyers. It will allow a producer to fund its purchases, undertake goods transformation and await payment from the end buyer.

Stock Finance

One of the oldest forms of finance which allows a company to improve it's working capital through the pledge of goods stored in approved, secure warehouses.

Most often a Colletral Management Agreement (CMA) is required.

  • A CMA is a tripartite agrement between the financing party, the borrowing party and the collateral manager. The goods are in the custody of the collateral manager.
  • A Stock Monitoring agreement, which is less stringent, may at times be implemented, where a stock review is undertaken at given points in time.

Structured Finance

Is a combination of several traditional financing methods tailored to the needs of a borrower. The techniques when put together provide risk mitigation and cash management.

  • It usually involves mutiltiple jurisdictions and counterparties.
  • Invariably pledges are taken on goods, proceeds of contracts are assigned to the lenders and insurance is underwritten to cover country risk.
  • The structure is normally self liquidating.
  • For the Borrower, the debt service payments are proportional to the revenue stream.
  • For the Lender, reduces the risk of corporate default.
  • A structure will allow companies to borrow more and for longer tenors than is usually acceptable for traditional lending. Certain structures may even allow off-balance sheet lending.

Islamic Finance

This type of finance is based on the fundamental islamic principle that interest cannot be charged on a loan. Instead lenders take a share of the profit out of the commercial transaction that has been financed. More often than not, this profit is close to the interest rate that a traditional bank would charge.

Bank guarantee Finance

Normally bank guarantees cannot be financed, however, for certain goods and with adequate documentation, it is possible to arrange lending with limited recourse. Generally such transactions are cheaper than traditional L/C financing as there are no document handling charges.

Reserve Based Lending

Also known as RBL, lenders base themselves on in-ground reserves such as oil, coal, ores and future production from these reserves to provide medium to long-term finance backed by the pledge on the in-ground assets and corresponding licences (if allowed by the local jurisdiction).

Trade Related transactions

More specifically designed for bank to bank lending, it allows banks to borrow based on a portfolio of trade transactions that they are or wish to finance.

ECA facilities

Finance backed by Export Credit Agency guarantees for exports, and sometimes imports. Usually covers 60% to 80% of the transaction. The balance must be financed by traditional methods. Usually the beneficiary must maintain a share of the risk.

L/C confirmation

One of the fundamental tools for international trade especially in emerging markets. Governed by the ICC rules, the two guiding principals are :

  • the autonomy from the sales and other contracts ;
  • Doctrine of Strict Compliance.

We can help you find acceptable banks to confirm (and discount) L/C's opened by your buyer's bank.

Bank facilities

Often, as companies grow, the home bank is not able to increase credit lines in line with their expansion. Finding a bank that can answer all the requirements for international trade can be a lengthy process.

We can help you gain time by introducing you to the most appropriate institutions.

Forfaiting

As opposed to factoring, where a recourse is maintained on the supplier, a forfaiting transaction implies that the seller transfers the debt without recourse to the buyer against payment at a discounted rate. Forfaiting is generally undertaken with Bills of Exchange or Promissory notes.

Syndications

For larger deals or more difficult risks we can find participants that will share part of the transaction on a syndicated basis.

Risk Coverage

Be it political, credit, performance or commercial risk, our close ties with brokers and insurance companies around the world will allow us to find a solution for the risk you are seeking to cover.

Restructuring

Whether you are a debtor or creditor, our experience in this field enables us to understand the requirements of all involved parties and help find an acceptable solution.

Transaction Review

We can provide an expert eye to review your transaction prior to presenting it financial institutions.

Due Diligence Review

With increasingly strict KYC regulations impacting both banks and corporates, front and middle-offices are often strained to provide adequate and timely due diligence. Fi-Nest can help you undertake the necessary reviews and provide the data in a format compatible with your computer systems.

...

We can provide many other services in relation to international trade do not hesitate to give us a call.