How to Issue a Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC): A Step-by-Step Guide from a Trade Finance Banker
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...
What Is an MT799 SWIFT Message — And When Should You Use One?
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...
The Secret Language of Structured Credit: Why the Smartest Capital in the World Speaks in Tranches
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...
The SBLC Mirage: How Smart Capital Walks Into Fraud—and How to Walk Back Out
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...
Why Raising Capital Feels Like Pushing a Boulder Uphill—And How Smart Family Offices Roll It Down Instead
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...
Why FINMA Is More Relevant Than Ever
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...
You’ve Outgrown the Bank. Now What?
By Taimour Zaman You’ve Outgrown the Bank. Now What?If you’ve spent the last decade or two building real capital—moving money, backing deals, sitting across the table from CEOs—then you already know:Banks were never built to serve people like you.They were built to...
Why Merchant Banks Are Suddenly Everywhere — And Why That Matters Right Now
By Taimour Zaman | June 24, 2025Why Merchant Banks Are Suddenly Everywhere — And Why That Matters Right Now “The bank just said no. What now?” New York, June 24 — A quiet shift is reshaping how ambitious businesses secure financing. As traditional bank loans dry up...
Taimour Zaman Scam Sparks Alarm Over Financial Fraud and Identity Misuse in Investment Schemes
Taimour Zaman wants the fraud to stop. The financial strategist and founder of AltFunds Global—an advisory firm based in Switzerland—has become the latest target in a troubling trend of identity misuse tied to high-stakes financial fraud. Zaman says scammers have...