ETFL Limited is a company established and operating since 2018 offering trade finance services, and providing alternative financing solutions to small and medium sized entities (SMEs) that are involved in the sale of goods and services.

Problem

Banks require SMEs to have tangible assets to pledge or mortgage to receive funding, which means the majority of SMEs don’t have access to flexible financing.

Solution

ETFL provides trade finance without requiring from the SME owners to give personal guarantees or mortgage assets. The only collateral is the invoices issued to the SME customers, which are assigned to ETFL.

Companies that supply goods and services domestically or internationally are usually requested by their customers to provide credit – which usually varies from 30 to 120 days. Such requests cause working capital needs which can be met either by banks or trade finance organisations.

ETFL’s clients assign the credit invoices issued to their customers (debtors) to ETFL and receive pre-payment up to 85% of the invoice value to cover their working capital needs. When the debtor settles the invoice by paying the total amount to ETFL, the latter advances to the client the non-discounted element of the invoice less ETFL’s charges.

Market potential

Global Trade Finance Market size was estimated at USD 46 bln in 2022 and USD 49bln in 2023 and is poised to grow to USD 88 bln by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.50% during the forecast period (2024-2031).

Every company involved in the provision of goods and services can leverage trade finance to secure better funding, improve its cash flow and grow its business.

Operating since 2018

ETFL has been operating since 2018 by concentrating on the local Cypriot market and is now looking to expand its operations. Based on audited accounts, it has always been profitable proving the quality of its management and prudence of its decision making.

This trade finance investment is considered as low risk since the underlying assets are trade finance receivables used for financing exports, or domestic trade, most of them insured by leading international credit insurers.

When a supplier wishes to become a client of ETFL, it informs ETFL about the identity of all its debtors, the projected volumes of business for each customer and the offered credit terms. ETFL then applies to Allianz Trade or Atradius, the two global credit insurance leaders, for specific credit limits on those debtors. This means that in the unlikely event that any one of those insured debtors were to default, then ETFL would submit a claim to the credit insurers and recover the money that it had prepaid.

Since 2018 when the Company was established and commenced operations, ETFL has never had a trade loss; this proves the quality of its management and prudence of its decision making.

The Project Owner gives a commitment to buyback the bonds subject to a 30-days notice.

The Project Owner has outsourced the administration and management of the bond registry to CrowdX, allowing for the financial instruments to be introduced to the Bulletin Board or Secondary Market of CrowdX whereby investors will be able to trade in the bonds. Existing owners who subscribed through the primary offering, will have the option to sell the acquired bonds on the CrowdX platform and other investors who have active accounts with crowdX and who have available funds, will be able to purchase the bonds, after acknowledging that they have read and understood the terms of the relevant KIIS.

The Project Owner is interested in raising €200,000 through bonds to finance new trade finance deals in the pipeline.

The bonds will have issue date 1 April 2026 and maturity date 31 March 2027.

ETFL is offering 4.5% per annum return on the issued bonds with an option for early exit, subject to investors giving 30-day notice.

The Project Owner allows investors an early redemption possibility, but every investor must give a 30-day notice to the Issuer for early redemption before maturity.

The investor will be charged 0.5% per month, for every complete or partial month that he exits early on the nominal value of the investment.

The investor may also sell all their holding before maturity on the CrowdX Secondary Market platform, provided there is sufficient buying interest from other investors.

CrowdX operates a bulletin board on which it allows its clients to advertise interest to buy and sell investments acquired through its website. In line with existing regulations, CrowdX imposes an additional condition whereby all clients advertising the sale of a transferable security must make available the respective KIIS to the buyer before they sell, something which is effected through the platform. The investor who wishes to purchase the securities must also confirm that they have read and understood the KIIS before the system allows for the transaction to continue.

The company is owned by Mr. Athos Kyranides, widely recognized as the leading expert in Trade Finance Operations in Cyprus. Born in 1963, Athos is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the London School of Economics – Economics Faculty (1983-1986).

After starting his career at KPMG UK, Athos was repatriated by the Bank of Cyprus, where he established and managed three groundbreaking companies: the first factoring company in Cyprus (1992), the first factoring company in Greece (1995), and Cyprus’s first venture capital company (2000).

In 2003 he left the Bank of Cyprus Group and set up his own management consulting practice specializing in strategic and financial management as well as business re-engineering, working with clients in Cyprus and abroad.

For more insights into his views you can read his recent interview

https://www.boussiasnews.cy/el/news/etfl-h-etairia-poy-allazei-to-paikhnidi-stis-xrimatodotiseis

The proceeds from the issue of the bonds will be used exclusively to invest in fully insured new trade finance deals as the Company seeks to expand its business activities. The Issuer has the financial strength to support all its expenses and intends to invest the maximum amount in trade finance receivables.

Each time an investment is made in a bond, the total invested amount is used to fund a trade finance deal.

1. Minimum target amount to be raised: €200,000
2. Number of offerings that have been completed for the crowdfunding project: Five, for a total amount of € 1,084,220.
3. Deadline for reaching the target to raise capital: 31.03.2026
4. Information on the consequences if the target capital is not raised within the deadline:
   The Company is adequately capitalized and financed to cover the needs of its current business portfolio. The only consequence in the unlikely event that the target amount is not met is the slowdown of the growth in its business portfolio.
5. Maximum offering amount when different from the target capital: The Company is in a position to utilize additional funds, hence the intention to absorb overfunding.
6. Amount of own funds committed: The Company has committed more than €3 mln of its own funds and has no difficulty to sustain its operations.

We have classified this product as 2 out of 7, which is a low-risk class. The summary risk indicator is a guide to the level of risk of this  product compared to other products. It shows how likely it is that the Issuer is unable to repay your investment and guaranteed return.

The risk indicator assumes you keep the product for 12 months, which is the ideal minimum holding period. The actual risk can vary significantly if you cash in at an early stage and you may get back less. Market developments in the future cannot be accurately predicted. The scenarios shown below are only an indication of some of the possible outcomes based on recent returns. Actual returns could be lower.

The Company is exposed to general risks such as market, credit, liquidity and geographical risk.