How Sponsors Qualify for a Financely Advisory Mandate
Financely accepts advisory and arranging mandates when the sponsor can pay for professional work and can fund the diligence, modeling and legal budget the file needs. The firm is not a lender and does not issue credit. Qualification starts with a paid intake, then a scoped retainer, not a success-fee-only request from an unfunded vehicle.
This page is the qualification standard for a Financely mandate. It is written for sponsors who want a serious process, and for professional firms that refer only bankable counterparties. It is not a substitute for the client-facing explainers already on the site, including why success-fee-only structured trade and commodity finance requests fail and why structured finance advisors charge a retainer fee.
What does Financely look for in a sponsor?
Financely looks for a real transaction, identifiable owners, and a sponsor that can pay for the work that makes a file bankable. That means a budget for diligence, models and legal advice, not only a teaser asking for lender introductions. An unfunded vehicle is not accepted only because a close might occur later.
In practice, a sponsor is the party that controls or is assembling the transaction and that will contract with advisors, counsel and, if the file proceeds, with capital providers. The label is not enough. Many people describe themselves as sponsors while having no corporate substance, no control of the asset or offtake, and no cash to pay the professionals who would have to structure the deal.
A file that can be taken seriously usually has some combination of the following, in a form that can be reviewed:
- A legally existing company or group, with beneficial owners who can be identified and verified.
- Control of, or a clear path to, the asset, contract, project rights or goods that would support repayment.
- A coherent transaction description, including counterparties, amounts, tenors and the use of proceeds.
- A budget and a paying entity for advisory work, third-party diligence, modeling and legal work.
- Willingness to complete customer due diligence before any introduction to a capital provider.
None of those points is a credit approval. They are the minimum conditions under which professional work is worth starting.
Why does Financely work on a retainer rather than success-fee-only terms?
The expensive work on a financing file happens before any capital provider says yes. Screening, diligence, models, memoranda, counsel and lender mapping all have to be funded in that period. A success-fee-only request from an unfunded sponsor asks the advisor to finance that preparation. Financely will not take that unpaid risk.
A retainer is payment for professional work and for a defined period of attention. It is not a fee for a promised loan. The distinction matters, and it is explained in more detail on the page that contrasts advance fee loan fraud with retainer mandates. Financely does not charge an upfront fee in return for a funding guarantee, because it is not a lender and it cannot sell a credit decision.
Where a success fee appears at all, it is a complement to paid work, agreed in the engagement letter, and due only if a defined closing occurs. It is not a substitute for the retainer. The live overview of how retainers and closing fees sit together on a debt placement is debt placement fees, retainers and success fees. This qualification page does not restate those commercial figures, because terms are confirmed in the engagement, not in a marketing paragraph.
What evidence shows a sponsor can fund the work?
Evidence means a clear paying entity, a budget for advisors, counsel and third-party diligence, and a way to settle invoices when work starts. It does not mean a promised commission or assurances that someone else will pay later. If the sponsor cannot fund preparation of its own file, the file is not ready.
Useful evidence is ordinary and documentary. It may include recent corporate account information, a board-approved budget for transaction costs, engagement letters already signed with counsel or accountants, and confirmation of who will pay invoices. The test is simple: can the sponsor fund the work that must happen before any close, without asking every professional firm to wait for a success fee?
This is not a request for a trade-instrument style proof of funds message, and it is not an invitation to circulate bank letters of questionable origin. Customer due diligence, including an understanding of the purpose of the relationship and, where needed, the source of funds used to pay professional costs, is a standard expectation in the FATF Recommendation 10 customer due diligence framework. Financely applies a risk-based intake. It will not start a mandate, and it will not introduce a file, where that review cannot be completed.
How does the intake and engagement process work?
A qualified sponsor submits the transaction, pays the intake fee for a professional review, and then, if the file fits, receives a scoped engagement. The USD 500 intake currently described on the engagement page pays for that review, not the mandate fee. Mandate terms are set out on the engagement page and in the letter.
The sequence is intended to be plain:
| Step | What happens | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Deal submission | The sponsor provides the transaction outline, counterparties, supporting documents and beneficial owner information through deal submission. | A lender application, a credit approval, or a request that Financely issue an instrument. |
| Paid intake | A professional review of whether the file is complete enough to scope a mandate. The live intake fee is described on Start Your Engagement. For a trade finance file, you can also start with the trade finance eligibility check. | The full mandate fee, and not a payment for a promised funding outcome. |
| Scoped retainer | If the file is suitable, the parties agree a written engagement with a defined scope, timeline and fee. Work then starts. | A success-fee-only arrangement for an unfunded sponsor, or a guarantee that a capital provider will close. |
| Introductions, if earned | Only a file that has been packaged, and that has passed intake and due diligence, may be introduced to suitable capital providers. | A cold circulation of an unfinished teaser to a wide lender list. |
If the review shows that the sponsor cannot fund the work, or that the transaction is not a file Financely can take, the process stops there. That outcome is a qualification decision. It is not a judgment about the sponsor as a person.
What happens if a sponsor cannot fund diligence or legal work?
If the sponsor cannot fund diligence, models or legal work, Financely will not open a success-fee-only mandate in the hope that a lender might later pay everyone. Those costs sit with the sponsor. An unfunded preparation phase is usually a sign that the file is not yet bankable, not a reason for professional firms to work for nothing.
Bankable counterparties budget for counsel, for a model that can survive credit review, and for the studies or inspections the transaction type requires. When those items have no payer, the advisor is being asked to subsidise a process that capital providers are unlikely to accept in any event. The same pattern appears in other unfunded intermediation, including the cases described in why unfunded commodity brokers waste months on deals that cannot be financed.
There is also a professional-risk point. Circulating a weak file, or associating a firm's name with a transaction that has no substance, can waste lender attention and can create reputational exposure. Financely would rather decline early than spend relationship capital on a mandate that cannot be prepared properly.
How does this differ from a success-fee-only request?
A success-fee-only request asks the advisor to do the work first and to be paid only if a closing occurs. When the sponsor is unfunded, that closing is often remote, yet time, staff and market access have still been spent. Financely inverts that request: paid intake, then a retainer, and only then a managed introduction if warranted.
Sponsors sometimes believe that a strong idea should be enough, or that professional firms should share the risk because the expected close is large. The size of a hoped-for close does not fund today's legal work, today's model or today's compliance review. Those are present costs. The economic case for why unpaid debt-advisory work does not hold together is already set out for borrowers in why no-upfront-fee debt advisory makes no economic sense. This page applies the same logic as a gate for who Financely will take on.
Where should a qualified sponsor start?
A qualified sponsor should submit the deal and complete the paid intake, with documents and a professional budget ready. Use deal submission for the file and Start Your Engagement for the intake and mandate terms. Do not send a teaser that asks for success-fee-only work and no customer due diligence.
Before you submit, it helps to read how retainers are used on a trade or structuring file, including what a structured trade finance retainer covers and trade finance upfront fees versus structuring retainers. Those pages explain the work. This page explains who is in a position to buy that work.
Frequently asked questions
What does a sponsor need in order to qualify for a Financely mandate?
A qualified sponsor can show a real transaction, pay for professional work, and fund the diligence, modeling and legal budget the file requires. Beneficial owners must be identifiable, and the sponsor must complete a customer due diligence review. Financely then scopes a retainer. It does not accept unpaid, success-fee-only work from an unfunded vehicle.
Is Financely a lender?
No. Financely is an advisor and arranger only. It does not lend, does not issue letters of credit or guarantees, and does not sell a credit approval. A retainer pays for professional work on a file that may later be introduced to capital providers. Payment of a retainer is not a promise that any lender will fund the transaction.
Why is there a paid intake before the mandate fee?
The paid intake pays for a professional review of the file before a full mandate is scoped. It keeps obviously incomplete or unfunded requests from consuming a structuring team. Commercial terms for the mandate itself are set out on the engagement page and in the engagement letter, not in a generic website promise.
Will Financely work on a success-fee-only basis?
Not for an unfunded sponsor who cannot pay for structuring, diligence or legal work. A success fee, if any, is a complement to a paid engagement, not a substitute for it. The expensive work on a file happens before any capital provider decides whether the transaction can close.
How is a retainer different from an advance-fee loan scam?
An advance-fee loan scam sells a promised loan, guarantee or funding approval in return for an upfront payment. A Financely retainer does not purchase a loan. It pays for advisory and arranging work, with a defined scope and no promise of credit. Financely is not a lender.
Where should a qualified sponsor start?
Submit the transaction through the deal submission form and complete the paid intake on the engagement page. Have the corporate documents, beneficial owner information, transaction contracts or project papers, and a budget for diligence and counsel ready. Incomplete teasers without a funding plan for professional work will not be taken as a mandate.
Related reading
- Success-fee-only mandates from unfunded sponsors
- How advisors qualify a sponsor before a mandate
- Retainer, work fee and milestone structures
If you have a real transaction and a budget for professional work, start with a paid intake. Financely is an advisor and arranger only. It does not lend and it does not issue credit.
This article is educational. It is not legal, regulatory, tax or investment advice, and it is not an offer to lend, arrange or underwrite any transaction. Duties and permitted fee structures depend on the firm’s licenses, the jurisdiction and the engagement letter. Commercial terms are agreed in writing.
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