Member Info for extrader

..."Greensill's woes stem from a lack of Due Diligence and allegedly a 'rouge' employee who was underwriting stuff that he had no authority to underwrite..."

Don't know about the 'alleged' activities, the mainstream press has any number of articles clearly stating that there were excessive , long-term, previously discussed/criticised exposures to steelman Gupta and incestuous dealings with shareholder SoftBank and some of its other subsidiary/investee companies.

Hi Aberdeenman,

I focussed on China, because that's the likely buyer for Zanaga ....something from the US would be 'out of left field' but might play well in the new US political environment, tie in nicely with the IMF upcoming capital raise and score 'brownie points' for Ivan in his discussions with the US Dept of Justice....so , " never say 'never' " !

More seriously you're quite right of course : I remember reading somewhere a while back that , if all the cars in the States revved their engines simultaneously they'd generate more electricity than the entire planet's 'then' consumption...;-<

The difference is that - one would hope at least - the drivers of American pollution are now on the wane, whereas China's are still on the rise.

ATB

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/greensill-case-could-trigger-loss-of-confidence-in-supply-chain-finance-market-62983186

..""Greensill really did put this technique on the map. They deserve kudos for that," said Tony Brown, CEO of The Trade Advisory, a trade finance consultancy, in an interview.

But with Greensill now in financial trouble, Brown said it could prompt investors to question supply chain finance as an instrument.

"When something like this happens, it deflates the enthusiasm that ordinarily should exist for this technique. I worry that it will scare off some investors who otherwise should be attracted to the space," he said..."

In a subsequent linked in exchange, Brown goes on to say :

.."The REALLY exciting piece of the puzzle is the financing of inventory BEFORE it becomes a payable or receivable. This is the real pain point for both buyers (who prefer to release scarce capital from idle inventory ownership) and their suppliers (who want to recognize an early sale for cash). As you might know, solutions like Supply@ME Capital plc, Arviem AG, and others offer such off-balance sheet solutions.."

Arviem is interesting hxxps://arviem.com/

if Arviem AG hooked up with a bank/alt finance co - and tweaked a variant of SYME's system - it looks as though they could provide a working capital solution to at least part of SYME's 'addressable market' : not necessarily the SME sector that SYME initially targeted (because of its fragmented and fluctuating supply chain) and has since dropped, but certainly mid-market industries and regular suppliers.

Or it could just end up being bought by AMAZON ;-< and 'promoted' by them.

Regarding observing the regs, there's an additional professional/personal reason for the Friel family to be 'squeaky clean' , if this lady is indeed CF's spouse

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-s-iyer-969829b8/?originalSubdomain=ie

Look at her responsibilities at her current employers, PM Group.

Meanwhile, no real world worries on the 'dirty' coal front :

China may not (quelle surprise !) be taking environmental concerns as seriously as it would have folks believe....

hxxps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-economic-blueprint-signals-more-coal-investment/ar-BB1egSCn?ocid=msedgntp

In the latest 5 year development plan

.."The blueprint sets a target of generating just 20 percent of energy from non-fossil fuels by 2025, up from 15.9 percent in 2020.

There were no specific targets for increasing wind, solar or hydro capacity, although there have been pledges to invest more in renewables.

China is the world's biggest polluter, spewing out over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

As part of the plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, Beijing had previously pledged to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030.

Researchers say this needs coal-fired power to be cut almost immediately.

However the economic blueprint does not ban the development of new coal power stations.

Instead China's cabinet last month issued a directive to "increase the share of large capacity coal power units".

"The contradiction between targeting low-carbon development and continuing to invest in coal and fossil fuels still seems stark in China's plans," Myllyvirta said.

Word and deeds.....

Hi all,

China may not (quelle surprise !) be taking environmental concerns as seriously as it would have folks believe....

hxxps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-economic-blueprint-signals-more-coal-investment/ar-BB1egSCn?ocid=msedgntp

In the latest 5 year development plan

.."The blueprint sets a target of generating just 20 percent of energy from non-fossil fuels by 2025, up from 15.9 percent in 2020.

There were no specific targets for increasing wind, solar or hydro capacity, although there have been pledges to invest more in renewables.

China is the world's biggest polluter, spewing out over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

As part of the plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, Beijing had previously pledged to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030.

Researchers say this needs coal-fired power to be cut almost immediately.

However the economic blueprint does not ban the development of new coal power stations.

Instead China's cabinet last month issued a directive to "increase the share of large capacity coal power units".

"The contradiction between targeting low-carbon development and continuing to invest in coal and fossil fuels still seems stark in China's plans," Myllyvirta said.

All good news for Zanaga, though, with its emissions-reducing high quality ore :

.."The country's strong post-pandemic recovery has been boosted by heavy infrastructure investment , and environmentalists are concerned this could stem the shift towards greener policies...."

ATB

Nice story, dickie3times.

I lost money on my very first move into shares. And it wasn't even shares , it was a unit trust : M&G Global Gold, back in the mid 80's .
The world's economy looked shaky, gold seemed a 'safe haven', I bought.
A couple of months later, the 'crash' duly arrived, my effin' trust went DOWN in value. To this day I don't understand why.
To add insult to injury, I'd missed signing the cheque with my application, it was returned to me for correction, so I got a second chance to show I didn't know what I was doing....

Oh , and years later I was in FRR too - and lost money on that - but that was in the 00's , so must have been in an earlier chapter of the same story...

Live and learn, eh .. or try to !

Elisabeth from PimlicoAdvisory emailed to say the video was on its way and provided this note re the relationship between NCCL and NGP

https://www.ncondezienergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020.05.06-US5.5m-CI-Pipeline-Secured-FINAL.pdf
which I must have missed at the time.

On a quick skim, covers some points, but others may not be addressed.

Video, first.

ATB

Two snippets ;
- this Fouta (there are others) is about 18 miles SSE of Pointe Noire;
- as usual, the finances are opaque : cost is given as US$ 600m, but financial contribution/involvement of Congo-B 'undisclosed'.

Does anyone know what connections (boom ! boom !) JA Solar panels and Tesla Power packs have in Moz and who the local agent/sponsor is ?

Well, courtesy of GTA5 elsewhere, here's a rabbit out of the hat :

..."Good find ! This gives a bit more detail hxxps://medafricatimes.com/22560-congo-b-sassou-nguesso-lays-foundation-stone-for-new-refinery.

Snippet :

.."Congo will be equipped in 2023 with a new crude oil refinery with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year, financed by the Chinese group Beijing fortune Dingheng investment Co Ltd. The start of work was given Sunday, February 21, 2021 near Pointe-Noire, by President Denis Sassou-Nguesso visibly in pre-election campaign.

In Fouta on the border road with the Cabinda enclave, the Atlantic Petrochemical Refinery will be built on 240 hectares. This project is structured by an investment agreement concluded in 2020 between the Congolese government and the Chinese group..."

This ties in pretty well with my 19Feb notes (extract) :

- COIDIC is supposed to set up Co giving exclusive rights to SEZ;
- COIDIC wants to own the land;
- C-B disagrees, mtg in Djibouti Dec 2019 doesn't resolve; mtg planned for Feb 2020 cancelled because of Covid;
- COIDIC withdraws;
- new co Peking Fortune DingHeng Inv Co wants to build a refinery in the new SEZ north of PN, this clashes with the SNPC refinery already there;
- Aug 2020, new co proposes a 2.4 Km2 plot elsewhere, the 'PN SEZ' is fragmented, this 2.4Km 2(zone B) and 27.9Km2 north of PN (zone A), this is pos'n as at Jan 2021;
- no partners for SEZ currently identified;
- end Feb C-B will invite bids from 'developers';
- meanwhile, in zone A, another co with W/African connections wants to set up an alu smelter for Guinea bauxite. This must be Yantai;
- C-B is negotiating with ENI a subsidized gas tariff for a related power station, Belgian, Italian and Turkish contractors have been approached;

Let's hope that there's news on the bits at the bottom, which are more Zanaga-relevant, esp. if Nguesso is in election mode...

ATB

"Raising 'wishy, washy' stuff, then adding stuff like, 'But this is a learning process, so who knows ?', just pathetic."

"It ain't what you don't know that loses you money. It's what you know for a fact that just ain't so."
Mark Twain.

HTH

.."It’s the platform intermediary aspect of matching the funding required to funders. .."

With respect, it's a bit more than that : it's the built-in potential for conflicts of interest.
hxxps://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bloomberg/credit-suisse-fund-lent-to-billionaire-greensill-s-neighbor/46062322

.."Greensill sources the assets -- mostly invoices [ in SYME's case = inventory] it buys from suppliers at a small discount -- packages them into notes and passes them on to the fund through a warehousing agreement, as long as they meet certain parameters.
The structure effectively lets the seller of assets decide what the fund buys."

A greedy commercial bank like Credit Suisse might greenlight this, I 'd be surprised if Captive Bank's regulator would.
But this is a learning process, so who knows ?

HTH

The problem I have with that is the conjunction of these 2 statements from the RNS :

(1) - Lenders right to convert the Bridge Loan into equity of NGP with a coupon of 50% should NGP default on repayments or under events of default typical for a project of this nature.; coupled with

(2) The Bridge Loan will be provided directly to the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Ncondezi Green Power, and honours the prior commitments not to dilute shareholders to progress the Company's C&I strategy."

If NGP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCCL ...and defaults....the Lenders acquire shares in NGP.

What %age of NGP's current share capital (whatever that is ?) ...and where do those shares come from ?

Whether from NCCL or by issuance of new NGP shares, are 'we' not diluted ? And by how much ? We have no idea.

Hanno makes a big play of this 'no dilution' stuff - which , apart from anything else, on the face of it isn't correct.

More (?) importantly, if I knew enough about NGP and its prospects (in the poss. competitor CMEC context), I think I'd rather NCCL HAD diluted directly , on a passthrough basis ...and borrowed the $ 500k in NCCL's name from the 3 Lenders.

I doubt whether we'd be paying 30% (which would help reduce the material hit to cashflow)...AND we'd be undiluted beneficiaries of NGP's improved fortunes.

And lastly : this is all a bit Morton's fork-ish :

- If NGP's prospects are poor, why are the 3 providing finance ? Maybe (total conjecture on my part) it's tied in in some way with EDM's sign-off on the tariff agreement eg burnishing NCCL's 'green credentials' ? Or making NGP worth more in a sale of NGP/NCCL to CMEC ?

- If the prospects are good, why aren't we doing the financing ourselves (as per above) ?

I don't 'get' it.....and hope we'll be provided with a clarification that provides the 'aha' that is currently - IMO - missing.

My bad.
Should read :

...""London-based Greensill Capital [= Captive Bank/ AZ 'Partner' ] helps manage the supply chain finance funds, originating [= SYME / AZ CEO ] and processing [= TAG / AZ Beneficial Owner ] the credits which go into the funds[= SYME's SPC's] and helping to secure investors..."

https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/supply-me-capital-SYME/share-news/Supply-ME-Capital-PLC-EUR-8bn-Funding-Agreement-w/83294674

Those are the similarities that give rise to potential conflicts of interest.

IMO

.."Syme is a platform not the financier !.."

...""London-based Greensill Capital [= Captive Bank] helps manage the supply chain finance funds, [=SYME]originating and [ = TAG/1AF2] processing the credits which go into the funds[= SYME's SPC's] and helping to secure investors..."

https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/supply-me-capital-SYME/share-news/Supply-ME-Capital-PLC-EUR-8bn-Funding-Agreement-w/83294674

Capisce ?

.."Based on your list do you feel your time here has been well spent?.."

How/when will I know, if ever ? Some of the insights I've gleaned will never be used; some maybe only in the next few years.

Life would be incredibly boring if we were only taught - or learned - for 'the test'.

Last week I used for the first time in 50 years something I'd picked up as a teenager.
Today, I had a chat with someone I last saw 20 years ago who knows the guy who wrote the Salaam article about SYME.

'Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted"

HTH

Hi Tex

Things I was not aware of /have updated myself on since looking at SYME, a startup in a new sector - 'fintech' include

(1) the complexities of IPO's and RTO's;
(2) listing requirements;
(3) accounting standards;
(4) 'inventory4.0';
(5) regtech and blockchain;
(6) Companies House and offshore company formation;
(7) the ICIJ database and Panama Papers;
(8) manipulation of online statements (courtesy TheRealDeal);
(9) money-laundering and fraud (I notice some feedback from Spotify still pending);
(10) investor behaviour (ongoing) a.k.a. 'extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds'..

plus a few others that escape me atm.

HTH

.."Remember when you claimed to only be here to study fintech?.."

Yes. This is a development concerning a leader in the fintech field, if you read the article. Regulators will want to learn what has - apparently - gone wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.

There are certain similarities with what SYME has said it is proposing.....so it's relevant (IMO) to SYME.

Feel free to disagree, either by counter-argument or by filtering me.

HTH

There's Fintech and there's Fintech...
The wheels seem to have come somewhat off Greensill, touted by some as SYME's model (fintech ! supply chain finance ! connections ! = David Cameron, no less, as 'adviser').

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/credit-suisse-suspends-8-3bn-supply-chain-finance-funds-1.4498200
Snippets :
.."London-based Greensill Capital helps manage the supply chain finance funds, originating and processing the credits which go into the funds and helping to secure investors..."
about which

.."In a note to investors, Credit Suisse Asset Management said that “a certain part of the subfunds’ assets is currently subject to considerable uncertainties with respect to their accurate valuation”...

and there's also read-across re the vexed issue of 'first loss security' [ the ostensible reason for the 1AF2 pledge of 5.9 billion shares]

.."Credit Suisse marketed the funds as ‘low risk’ investments partly on the basis that it said almost all the money was insured. Credit Suisse on Monday declined to identify the insurers or give details of the insurance.
However, the insurance does not cover all losses.
In accounts filed in January, Greensill said the insurance policies carried first loss clauses which meant it faced potential losses of up to $1.04 billion in the case of defaults..."

That's about a 10% security margin ie as 'ball-parked' for SYME's SPCs.

The regulator looking into authorising SYME's Captive Bank is not going to be happy about the set-up as described in the September and December RNS's, which on the face of it allows the same/similar potential conflicts of interest, regarding 'origination', 'repackaging' and 'distribution'.

IMO