Russian ruble devaluation

The devaluation of the ruble which commenced on August 17th from 6.34 to the current level of R28 ( June 2000) has moved the Russian primary forfaiting market back to where it was in early 1997. It has become critical for Russian companies to have representation by a competent, well informed broker. The market for Russian bank guaranteed debt. has all but vanished. Forfaiters are now not interested to continue this type of financing. Most forfaiters, along with almost all financiers, are sceptical about the accounting practices of Russian banks, particularly second tier and smaller institutions. Continued forfaiting is likely to be to companies which have an underlying asset base. Russia's cause in the international financial markets has not been furthered by political maneuvers in the Duma and Kremlin. But whatever 1999 holds for the forfaiting market in Russia, risk is firmly back on the agenda. Special negotiations will be needed by Russian companies to distinguish themselves from the run of the mill. f.o.b. outisde Russia has become the norm for export sales becasue it is impossibel to get insurance for inland freight. Quality inspection inside Rusian borders is an oxymoron; bribe demands makes ownership contingent upon getting the goods across the Russian borders; non-delivery or delayed delivery make planning impossible.

The financing of bunker oil refueling of Russian fishing vessels is a good example of transactions which can be financed. In most cases liens and titles to vessels serve as security and agreements are structured with the Japanes and Korean customers for the seafood catch,assigning the payments due Russian companies for the catch, to the oil companies fueling the vessels.

BROKERING - SYNDICATION OF NON-PERFORMING FORFAITING PORTFOLIOS

Some of our Russian clients are willing to buy non-performing portfolios at a discount from American and European factoring, forfaiting and accounts receivable financing companies. For more information contact palms@PeterPalms.com.

Russian banks and NPO's who wish to satisfy their notes or accounts payable to creditors within Russia, with accounts receivable held by European and American firms from the creditor of such Russian companies, are invited to contact us for purchase of such accounts.

THE ROLE OF PALMS & COMPANY IN FORFAITING TRANSACTIONS

The forfatiing market is a highly diversified one with a wide range of differing institutions offering varying products. These include major domestic and international banks, smaller regional banks and specialist forfating companies, largely based in the United Kingdom, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya - Banco Santander - Bank of America - Bankers Trust - BankBoston - Banque Commerciale Du Maroc - Barclays Bank - Bayerische Vereinsbank - BCEN Eurobank - Financial Markets Group - The Chase Manhattan Bank - Chiltern International Finance Ltd - Citibank - Deutsche Morgan Grenfell - Ecoban Finance Limited - Emerging Market Securities L.L.C. - Finanz AG Zurich - Credit Suisse - First Boston - Fineurop - Hungarian International Finance Ltd - Inkomfinanz Group AG - Mees Pierson - Natexis Banque - Nedbank - Oceantrade S.A. - Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG - The Royal Bank of Scotland - SEI Capital AG - Soditic - Standard Bank London - Standard Chartered - Tong Yang - Turk-Gulf Merchant Bank -Trafco - The United Bank of Kuwait - United Garanti Bank International NV - Warburg Dillon Read - West Merchant Bank Ltd - Anglo Romanian Bank Ltd -Arab merchant Corporaiton - Atlantic Forfaitierungs AG - Banca Commerciala Ion Tiriac S.A. - Berliner bankAG - Bon Pour Aval Ltd - Creditanstalt A.G. - Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka A.S. - DG bank - Dresdner Bank AG - Dresdner Kleinwort Benson - Eufintrade S.A. - Bank Finantia - ING Barings - LB Interfinanz AG - London Forfaiting - Mezhcombank - Mezra Finance Ltd - Monaval Trade Finance - Moscow Narodny Bank - national bank of greece - Oppenheim Forfair GmbH - Rabobank - Skandifinanz AG - Standard bank London - Sudwestdeutsche Landesbank - Tricon FinancialCorporation Ltd - Vseobecna uverova banka A.S. - Zivnostenska Banka A.S. - Iran Overseas Investment bank Ltd -

For any specific transaction, a number of institutions may be willing to putr forward terms, but pricing, documentary requirementes and the credit period each will offer can vary enormously. Coupled with this, each bank has its own way of expressing their pricing, which for the uninitiated makes comparison difficult. Forfaiting is not without its jargon and talk of :straight discount", "discounts to yield", margin over matching LIBOR", commitment fees" and "days of grace' can confuse and bewilder.

As your consultant and representative, palms & Company can objectively seek out and negotiate the best terms available from the market. "Best" does not always mean lowest price, but instead can also relate to longest credit period, easier documentation or higher security. certain sources are better for certain countries, contracts or credit periods.

The Advantages of using Palms & Company as your AGENT.

We can add substantial value In an imperfect market such as forfaiting , where appetitie, terms and capacity varies considerably from bank to bank and specialist niche institutions exist tucked away in remote corners, palms & Company can quickly locate the information that matters.

Palms & Company is never in a position to have to say "we are full at the moment" or "we don't have limits for that name". If some banks are full, others may not be. It is our role to find capacity for difficult or high risk markets that many banks would decline. . In some cases it is our function to find capacity for smaller less well known Russian banks.

Is it more expensive to use Palms & Company

There are wide pricing differentials in the forfaiting market and the consulting retainer paid to Palms may be recovered in the form of lower transaction fees. Some companies charge twice as much as others.

Another form of Financing

Import Financing will now be easier for Russia, The Baltics, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. Repayments can be based upon export revenues. This resembles Compensatory-investing. Repayment would be assured through off-shore collateral accounts. Such transacton are being referred to also as Project Incentive Agreements (PIA's). Under the terms of a PIA the importer's government issues the necessary liceneses and provides assurances of regulatory support, in lieu of a sovereign guarantee. Financing may be secured by export revenues either from the activities being financed or from other activites.

For example a repayment of loan may be guaranteed by assigning revenue a country receives from international aircraft flying over its airspace. Off-shore collateral accounts are established to facilitate payment so that these revenues are deposited with Western fiduciaries, from which repayments are made and monitored. Simply put, revenues due to countries from other countries as escrowed and use to pay for imports.

Transactions have already been approved for the sale of $60 million in mining equipment by Caterpillar and other companies to Almazy Rossii-Sakha. Sale by Northrop Grumman of $15 million in air traffic control equipment to the Georgian Government has also been approved.

Potential PIA transactions must meet general legal and regulatory conditions in a given country and applicaitons for financing will still require significant preparation and legwork.

CAN YOU REALLY RELY UPON PALMS & COMPANY?
You are One of the  Who can. (World Population Counter)

Can Palms deliver?

What is their track-record ?

How long have they been around?

Who is he anyhow? .

What does the Government think                     of his work

O.K. get a hold of Palms       No, we don't need Palms. Lets do it ourselves with in-house staff but lets get his entire database on CD and use it

Attention Brokers, Agents , Intermediaries , Mandates of Principals/Buyers

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