We source and structure discounting facilities against standby letters of credit — turning an instrument sitting on your balance sheet into working capital you can deploy now.
A standby letter of credit (SBLC) is a bank guarantee that typically sits in reserve — but a beneficiary holding a genuine, bank-issued SBLC can often discount it with a financial institution for a percentage of its face value, releasing capital ahead of the instrument's maturity. We assess whether your SBLC is discountable, structure the facility with a suitable lender, and manage the process through to disbursement.
Discounting lenders lend against the issuing bank's credit standing, not just the paper — this is checked first.
SBLC terms need to genuinely support discounting; not every SBLC is structured in a way lenders will accept.
Lenders want to understand the commercial transaction behind the instrument, not just the guarantee itself.
The facility's advance rate and cost depend on the SBLC's remaining tenor and the issuing bank's risk profile.
We review the instrument, its issuing bank and its wording to assess whether it's realistically discountable.
We approach discounting lenders whose risk appetite fits your issuing bank and sector.
We negotiate advance rate, tenor and terms, and prepare the documentation the lender requires.
The lender verifies the instrument directly with the issuing bank before releasing funds — we manage this step so it doesn't stall.
No — the issuing bank's standing and the instrument's specific wording both matter. We assess this upfront rather than shopping an instrument that won't get accepted.
It varies by issuing bank, tenor and lender — we'll give you a realistic range once we've reviewed the specific instrument.
Send us the instrument details and we'll give you a straight read on whether it's discountable.
