by Brendan MacDonald | Jul 10, 2025 | Premium
In today’s financing landscape, one of the most misunderstood tools is the Standby Letter of Credit, commonly referred to as an SBLC. It’s often treated as a silver bullet—something that can unlock capital, close a deal, or secure funding. But what most people don’t...
by Brendan MacDonald | Jul 8, 2025 | Premium
Few SWIFT messages are as misunderstood, misused, and mis-sold as the MT799. Everyone in structured finance is familiar with it. Some believe it unlocks capital. Others think it replaces an SBLC. But very few truly understand its role, its limits, and its power when...
by Brendan MacDonald | Jul 8, 2025 | Premium
It starts with a traffic jam. Not the kind you sit in—but the kind you finance. A mid-sized city in the U.S. needed $400 million to overhaul its crumbling highway system. The banks weren’t biting. The federal funding process? Stalled. So, how did it get done?...
by Brendan MacDonald | Jul 3, 2025 | Premium
By Taimour ZamanIt usually begins with a whisper.An email. A phone call. “Do you know about SBLCs?” A quiet promise of millions in financing, secured by a Standby Letter of Credit—a financial instrument issued by a bank that supposedly guarantees payment, often used...
by Brendan MacDonald | Jul 2, 2025 | Premium
By Taimour ZamanA few days ago, I spoke with a group of family office principals facing the same problem: raising capital for real assets feels like pushing a 2-ton boulder uphill—barefoot. You’ve got bricks—land, income properties, maybe a stalled development. You...
