We provide lender-ready capital raise packaging and debt or equity placement support for business owners and buyers looking to secure serious term sheets and close funding on a defined timeline.
For business owners and acquirers pursuing private debt or equity, submit your deal for review. We revert within one working day with next steps and either a quote for our services.
For pre-submission discussions, we offer paid consultations. To initiate underwriting and lender outreach, submit the deal.
Trade Finance, Commodity Trade Finance, And Private Credit
The trade finance gap is not just a development talking point. It is a capital markets failure. There are real SME trade flows, real purchase orders, real shipments, and real buyers. Yet capital does not show up at scale because the deals do not behave like an investable asset class.
An asset class needs repeatable underwriting, enforceable controls, and portfolio-level reporting. Without those, investors price SME trade finance like a one-off relationship loan, or avoid it entirely. Letters of credit help, structured debt helps, syndicated credit facilities help, and tokenization and blockchain can help. None of them fix weak discipline on their own.
If you want trade finance basics first, start with Trade Finance and Trade Finance Services. If you are focused on commodity flows, see commodity trade finance structures through the same lens: title, controls, and verifiable documents.
Investors allocate to an asset class when they can answer three questions with confidence: What is the exposure, how is it controlled, and how does it perform over time. SME trade finance fails this test too often because the unit economics of underwriting and monitoring are high, and the quality of inputs is inconsistent.
If you want the blunt version, here it is: SME trade finance becomes investable when the system makes it hard to lie, hard to leak cash, and easy to monitor.
Opinion: the trade finance gap persists because the market still treats SME trade as bespoke. Capital wants “portfolio logic.” SMEs show up with “deal logic.” Bridging that is a product design problem.
Letters of credit are often presented as the solution to cross-border risk. They are useful because they formalize the payment process and documentary conditions. But letters of credit do not convert a weak trade into a bankable trade. They also do not eliminate fraud. They only change where fraud can hide.
If SME trade finance wants to be investable, letters of credit need to sit inside a control-first structure: controlled accounts, assignment rights, shipment verification, and fast dispute escalation.
Commodity trade finance should be a showcase for investability because the underlying collateral is tangible and the cycles can be short. Yet it is also where operational failures are punished hardest. Title fraud, substitutions, warehouse games, and invoice manipulation are not theory. They are why lenders demand strict controls.
This is why “commodity trade finance” gets funded when it looks boring:
Structured debt is the bridge between “a deal that might work” and “a portfolio that can be allocated to.” It creates repeatability: eligibility rules, advance rates, reserves, triggers, and enforcement. Without that, the investor is underwriting every trade from scratch. That does not scale.
| Asset Class Requirement | What SME Trade Often Looks Like | What Structured Debt Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exposure definition | Each deal described differently | Eligibility schedules, ineligible lists, concentration rules |
| Predictable loss paths | Loss paths are operational and hidden | Reserves, margin calls, triggers, step-in rights |
| Monitoring and reporting | Reporting is manual and irregular | Servicer model, reconciliations, audit trails, dashboards |
| Enforcement logic | Unclear security and jurisdiction assumptions | Clear security package, governing law, enforcement rights |
A real asset class needs more than one lender. It needs distribution. Syndicated credit facilities are how you unlock larger balance sheets and reduce single-lender concentration. But syndication only works when the package is standardized and the operating model is credible.
In practical terms, syndication requires:
Opinion: syndication is not blocked by “lack of lenders.” It is blocked by lack of confidence that the portfolio behaves the same way deal after deal. That confidence is built by servicing and controls, not by branding.
Tokenization and blockchain are often pitched as a liquidity magic trick. The credible approach is more grounded: use blockchain to reduce operational cost, increase auditability, and enforce workflow discipline.
The useful applications are:
Tokenization only matters if it represents enforceable rights inside the structure. A token that points to a PDF is not an asset class upgrade. It is packaging.
If the goal is to close the trade finance gap, especially for SMEs, the solution is not one new lender. It is a repeatable operating standard that lowers cost per deal and increases confidence per unit of capital.
Financely operates as a transaction-led capital advisory desk for trade finance, commodity trade finance, and structured debt. We package mandates into lender-grade submissions, align controls to market expectations, and route the mandate to matched capital providers. Where execution requires licensing, we coordinate execution through appropriately licensed partners under their approvals.
If you want to move toward an investable trade finance profile, start with process: review How It Works , then submit the mandate through Submit Your Deal.
If you have a real trade loop, identifiable counterparties, and you can support documentation and controls, submit your deal. We will revert with feasibility, a checklist, and an execution path sized to your timeline.
It is the difference between the volume of trade finance demanded by real businesses and the volume supplied by banks and lenders at acceptable terms. For SMEs, the gap is driven by underwriting cost, perceived risk, and lack of standardized data and controls.
They help in specific corridors and structures, but they do not remove operational risk or eliminate the need for controls and servicing. They are a tool, not a full solution.
Because the loss paths are operational: title disputes, substitutions, warehouse risk, and document fraud. Controls and monitoring reduce those loss paths and make exposures more underwriteable.
Only when it represents enforceable rights inside a documented facility and improves auditability and servicing. Tokenization does not replace underwriting.
SME trade finance becomes an investable asset class when it behaves like one: standard inputs, enforceable controls, credible servicing, and reporting that investors can trust. That is how you close the trade finance gap without relying on slogans.
Financely advises growth-focused businesses on accessing capital by introducing their opportunities to professional investors. Financely is not a securities broker or dealer. Where appropriate, engagements are coordinated with regulated broker-dealers, investment banks, legal counsel, and other specialists.
Financely does not solicit, offer, or accept orders to buy or sell securities and makes no assurance regarding capital-raising outcomes.
Services are strictly business-to-business. Financely does not provide personal finance, consumer credit, or retail advisory services.
Advisory services are reserved for post-revenue companies that recognize the time and resources required for professional underwriting.
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Email supportdesk@financely-group.com for general enquiries, press & partnership requests.
All mandates start with an RFQ. We review submissions, issue a brief Go/No-Go memo, and where bankable, release a Term Sheet that leads to funding. We arrange capital across Senior Secured, Unitranche, Second Lien/Mezzanine, Preferred Equity, and Gap Solutions. We do not process deals by email or chat.
Letters of Credit, Standby LCs, Confirmations, Receivables Finance, and Inventory Lines with control.
Funding arranged for trade flows with instruments sized to your cycle and aligned to delivery and settlement.
Move forward to secure working capital and keep goods moving. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting for funding.
Limited or non-recourse structures for energy and infrastructure with lender-ready materials.
Funding solutions aligned to project cash flows with credible covenants and conditions to reach notice to proceed.
Advance the file to termable status. Submit the RFQ so we can underwrite and secure funding.
Debt and Preferred solutions anchored on cash flow, Quality of Earnings, and clear closing mechanics.
Funding across senior, unitranche, and preferred to match stable cash flows and acquisition timelines.
Get financed on workable terms for closing. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting.
Acquisition, development, bridge, and refinance with lender-ready packs and third-party reports managed.
Funding calibrated to DSCR, leverage, and tenancy with terms designed to close.
Move to a financeable package. Submit the RFQ to initiate underwriting for funding.
KYC and Source of Funds required. Engagements are best-efforts and subject to underwriting. Preference for operating companies with meaningful revenue. See our FAQ and Procedure.
Financely Inc. (“Financely”) provides corporate-finance advice and is wholly owned by Aurora Bay Trust, a trust formed under Bahamian law, together with its authorized affiliates. Depending on deal structure, jurisdiction, and local rules, engagements may be carried out through Financely Group LLC, a non-deposit-taking, non-banking financial company; Ashford Capital Advisory LLC; or another related entity.
Financely and its affiliates are not registered as securities broker-dealers and do not execute securities transactions or hold client funds or securities. When a mandate involves the purchase or sale of securities and a registered intermediary is required, any orders are introduced to and executed by one or more independent U.S. broker-dealers registered with the SEC and FINRA. Those broker-dealers are solely responsible for trade execution, custody, and related regulatory obligations. Nothing in this material constitutes an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security or to engage in any specific transaction. Before engaging Financely Group LLC, Ashford Capital Advisory LLC, or any affiliate, you are responsible for confirming that such engagement complies with your own legal, regulatory, tax, and other requirements. In the United States, certain advisory activities may be conducted in reliance on exemptions available under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, including the “foreign private adviser” exemption where applicable. Our services and regulatory status may vary by jurisdiction and by transaction type.
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