By Taimour Zaman, Founder, AltFunds GlobalIn most of the financial world, a Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC) is a signal of strength. Issued by reputable banks, it's widely accepted as proof of a client's ability to transact — a structured instrument that sits at the...

Let me take you behind the curtain. After more than five decades in international banking and trade finance, I've come to learn that most deals don't fall apart because of bad numbers. They fall apart because someone didn't understand how banks commit capital. If...

Let’s be honest: most 27-year-olds (my younger analysts included) aren’t spending weekends googling “credit enhancement in securitization.” However, if you’re in business, finance, or trying to secure funding for your company, you need to know this. Because credit...

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...

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...

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? Not...

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 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...

By Taimour ZamanA few days ago, The Globe and Mail ran a sobering article: AI is now being used to impersonate real financial professionals—luring people into fraudulent capital schemes over WhatsApp, Telegram, and cloned LinkedIn profiles.Scammers are selling...