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.
Trade Finance Facility Establishment
Establishing a trade finance facility is a credit, controls, and compliance exercise. Outcomes are determined by auditability of the trade flow, enforceability of security, operational feasibility of collateral and cash controls, and the lender’s corridor and counterparty risk appetite.
This note outlines a routine facility establishment workflow from intake to closing and first draw, with sequencing aligned to bank trade desks and specialist trade lenders. For the overarching engagement workflow, refer to How It Works.
A trade finance facility in this context refers to a committed or uncommitted credit line or structured program used to fund physical trade cycles, typically supported by documentary control and collateral or cash control. This includes borrowing base revolving credit facilities for physical commodity trades as set out in Borrowing Base Facilities For Physical Commodity Trades , as well as facilities incorporating LC issuance where the operating model relies on documentary conditions described in What Is A Documentary Letter Of Credit And How Does It Work.
Operating premise: facility structure follows the control perimeter. Lenders will price and size against what can be verified, monitored, and enforced, not against unstructured commercial narrative. Where helpful, baseline terminology is covered in What Is Trade Finance.
The stages below reflect standard lender sequencing. Internal nomenclature varies, but the process is consistent across trade desks and asset-based platforms.
| Stage | Primary Objective | Typical Deliverables And Controls |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Intake And Mandate Fit | Confirm corridor, product, size, and structure are within realistic lender parameters. | Transaction overview, facility request, trade flow profile, counterparties, Incoterms and documentary path, and an initial control concept. |
| 2) KYB, KYC, UBO, And Sanctions Screening Inputs | Establish onboarding readiness for borrower and relevant counterparties. | Corporate documents, ownership and UBO disclosure, audited or management accounts, banking references where required, and screening data for parties, vessels, and jurisdictions as applicable. |
| 3) Structuring And Control Perimeter Design | Define the funded exposures and the enforceable control perimeter. | Facility type, tenor, advance rates, borrowing base mechanics, ineligibles and reserves, cash waterfall, documentary conditions, collateral control plan, and reporting cadence. |
| 4) Underwriting Package Build | Create a credit file suitable for internal credit committee review. | Credit memo, sources and uses, trade economics and cash conversion cycle, counterparty assessment, concentration analysis, operational workflow, risk register, mitigants, and a diligence index mapping documents to controls. |
| 5) Lender Routing And Indicative Terms | Engage lenders whose mandate fits the proposed structure and corridor. | Lender fit matrix, NDAs where required, submission package, and indicative terms subject to due diligence and approvals. |
| 6) Term Sheet Negotiation | Convert indicative feedback into executable commercial terms. | Executed term sheet covering margin, fees, tenor, availability, borrowing base and eligibility, LC sublimits, security, covenants, reporting, conditions precedent, and draw mechanics. |
| 7) Documentation, Security Perfection, And Operational Onboarding | Translate term sheet into enforceable documents and workable operational procedures. | Facility agreement, security documents, account control agreements, collateral management or warehouse control setup where relevant, insurance requirements, reporting templates, and draw approval workflow. |
| 8) Closing And First Draw | Complete CPs, activate accounts and controls, and execute the first trade cycle under monitoring. | CP satisfaction pack, executed control agreements, activated accounts, borrowing base certificate format, drawdown notice procedures, and first funded trade with post-advance reporting cadence. |
The objective at intake is to confirm that the request matches a fundable profile before a full underwriting cycle is initiated. Lenders typically require clarity on product, corridor, counterparties, trade cycle length, documentary requirements, and intended collateral controls. For transactions where letters of credit are a core instrument, the documentary path should align with market practice, including document presentation and discrepancy management as described in Documentary Letters Of Credit.
Routine delays are frequently attributable to KYB and UBO gaps, inconsistent corporate records, or counterparty diligence constraints. A practical approach is to prepare the borrower and counterparty information set early, and to keep parties, vessels, and jurisdictions consistent across the contract stack, shipping instructions, and submissions.
Facility structure typically resolves around one of two operating models: a borrowing base revolving facility with periodic collateral reporting, or a transaction-specific structure tied to defined shipments and documentary triggers. For borrowing base structures, the eligibility framework, ineligibles, reserves, and reporting cadence should be established at the outset. The rationale is addressed in Borrowing Base Facilities.
The underwriting pack is expected to stand on its own in credit committee. It should reconcile all key metrics to source documents, map operational steps to controls, and set out mitigants for concentration, logistics, quality, and fraud risks. Where the borrower’s narrative is not supported by auditable evidence, credit review will extend and pricing and structure will tighten.
Lender routing is a mandate fit exercise. Incorrect routing produces time loss and reputational burn. After indicative terms, the negotiation focus typically concentrates on collateral definitions, eligibility, reserves, cash dominion, events of default, reporting covenants, and conditions precedent. Documentation then operationalises these requirements through account control, collateral management where relevant, and draw procedures.
Financely provides full-scope trade finance advisory services, including structuring, packaging, and bank and lender introductions. We coordinate the workflow from intake through term sheet, documentation, controls onboarding, and first draw. Core service context is available at Trade Finance. Where execution requires regulated activity, execution is coordinated through appropriately licensed partners under their approvals.
Facility type and size, product and corridor, proposed suppliers and buyers, contract terms including Incoterms, expected cycle time, and an initial view on collateral and cash controls. The objective is mandate fit confirmation and early identification of control perimeter constraints.
LC sublimits are underwritten as part of the lender’s total exposure and are governed by collateral coverage, combined utilisation, and the operating model for documentary compliance and discrepancy management. Terms also reflect the issuing bank’s corridor appetite and the broader security package.
CPs usually reflect what the lender needs to verify and control before funds are advanced: KYB completeness, enforceable security, activated controlled accounts, insurance, collateral verification arrangements, and an operationally workable reporting and draw process.
Operational onboarding refers to implementation of the facility operating model: controlled accounts and cash waterfall, draw approvals, borrowing base certificate format and support, reporting templates, collateral verification procedures, and exception handling and escalation protocols.
Financely structures and packages trade finance facilities to lender standards and coordinates introductions to matched banks and specialist lenders. The workflow is executed from intake through term sheet, documentation, controls onboarding, and first draw.
Facility establishment outcomes are determined by auditability, enforceable controls, and compliance readiness. Submissions that do not map transaction mechanics to controllable mitigants tend to slow materially at credit review and documentation.
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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request a quote
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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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