This is a process which is critical to understand, but the problem is 99.9% of those in the private placement market have never closed a deal. Unfortunately, this had lead to a market flooded with inexperience and misrepresentation. Think about it, how can you accurately explain the process of a private placement transaction if you have never closed one? Simple answer, you can’t!
In this article, we will overview the typical process to complete a private placement transaction, and most importantly, we will supply common obstacles that you may face along the way.
10 Steps to Private Placement Success
NOTE: Most of the assets that people try to apply with CAN’T be used for any REAL private placement program. These include ITR’s (Irrevocable Trust Receipt), SKR’s (Safe Keeping Receipt), T Strips (Treasury Strips), junk bonds, asset backed bonds, hard assets, real estate, and more. As you can expect, most of the applications at this stage are unacceptable, and fraudulent.
NOTE: Within hours, most real traders will know if the asset and owner are legitimate. Also at this time, the criminal background and origin of the funds are explored to ensure they are dealing with a clean applicant. In addition, if the client has over 100M, real trade groups typically either know of the applicant, or have seen the person try to apply before. There is a very small circle of real traders, so when someone applies with large assets, the word gets around rather fast.
NOTE: Most clients have NEVER been involved with a legitimate private placement before. With that being said, many will show the contract to their attorneys, who have never been through this as well, and they may advise against proceeding due to a lack of familiarity. Needless to say, this can kill the deal, or may make the PPP investor feel uncomfortable. The problem you will run into over and over at this stage is transparency, and gaining trust from the client. due to the private nature of the private placement business, there is only so much information the trader can reveal, and this is a common obstacle.
NOTE: Once the client signs the contract, there are still a number of potential obstacles before you can “close the deal”. If a client signs the contract and does not complete the transaction, they may be reported to the authorities, and by doing so, they will be permanently prevented from participating in any private placement program in the future. As we said before, there is a small circle of real traders, and if they label a potential client as a non-performer, it is rare that any other REAL trader will spend their time to work with them.
NOTE: Banks are in the business of making money, and customer requests are secondary to the profit of the bank. When a client asks to block, conditionally assign, or transfer their funds, they are cutting into the pockets of the bank, which we know they don’t stand for. If the bank loses that asset off their books, they actually lose over 25x that amount in potential loans from their country’s central bank (FED/ECB). With this in mind, most banks stall with excuses, since that will frustrate most customers enough to kill the transaction. Even though this may be an obstacle, this should never be a deal killer since it is the client’s money, not the banks. To complete a deal, you either need a bull personality or a great relationship with the bank, otherwise you may encounter problems with the final steps.
NOTE: Very few trade groups request that the client transfers ownership of their assets. If they do request this, be very cautious, and expect something is not as it seems. Most private placement traders ONLY need a conditional assignment of assets, temporary beneficiary access, or the blocking of the assets in their favor for the period of the trade. This allows them to access a line of credit which they trade for the client, specific to their contract agreement. Also, so you know, PING programs are 99.9% fake, since they do not allow the trader to access the line of credit they need to start trading. No bank will loan without collateral, and since “PINGING” the account is not sufficient assurance to the bank that is has collateral in place, it never works. It is just another ignorant broker creation and is most often part of a “bait and switch” strategy.
NOTE: The trader is the only one who can access a line of credit against blocked assets. No one who is trying to complete a scam will ever be able to draw a huge line of credit on blocked assets. The bank completes thorough due diligence on anyone it loans to, and when that loan involves millions of dollars, it is far more diligent. In short, no bank will offer a line of credit for millions to someone who they don not thoroughly trust, so there is not a lot of worry about when blocking assets in someone’s favor.
NOTE: First, the issuing bank sells the instrument directly to the trader for a significant discount (ex. 60% of face value). After the trader buys the instrument, they then sell it to the “commitment holder/exit buyer” (ex. 66% of face), who then sells it to their “commitment holder” for a higher price (72% of face). This continues until someone purchases it with the intent to hold the note to collect the coupon/interest, and the difference between the discounted note and its value at maturity. This is the basic idea of how profit is generated in Private Placement Programs that use bank instruments.
NOTE: Once everything it set up with the banking, it is a very smooth process to get continual profits into your account. Typically the first payment is made within 10-15 banking days after trading has started so they can ramp up the account to purchase larger notes. After the first payment, the client will receive disbursements on a weekly basis, or whatever their contract specifies. Most clients and brokers would be best served in setting up international bank accounts, or better yet, they can have an account at the bank where the trading is occurring. This will prevent the need to send external wires through different countries and banking systems. All profits would be internally transferred “ledger to ledger”, and would not attract as much attention.
NOTE: Most real private placement programs are intended to fund humanitarian projects in underdeveloped nations. Typically 80% of the program’s profits must go to projects, while the remaining 20% is for “administrative use”. In essence, the 20% can be used at the client’s discretion, but you must make sure you are funding projects as well. The platform does not regulate this, but the FEB oversees all of the companies who have applied and received money in these types of programs.
Once the client completes this 40 week trading process, they can re-enter, but they must have projects funnel the profits into. Most private placement contracts are for 2 years, and are renewed upon expiration if both parties choose.
In summary, if you understand what we have described above you will know how to proceed with a private placement transaction, and be aware of how to overcome obstacles before they present themselves. Though there are some programs which follow different steps, this is the basic template for all REAL private placement opportunities above 100M.
None of the customary standards and practices that apply to normal, conventional business, investing and finance applies to private funding programs.