London Forfaiting

What London Forfaiting does

London Forfaiting Company Limited (LFC) is a UK-registered (England & Wales) trade finance specialist founded in 1984 and headquartered at 15-18 Austin Friars, London. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malta-listed FIMBank p.l.c., which itself is approximately 89% owned by Kuwait-based KIPCO Group (an A+/BBB-rated investment holding with over $33 billion AUM), giving LFC a multi-jurisdictional ownership chain. LFC's product portfolio centers on four pillars: forfaiting (the without-recourse discounting of trade receivables such as promissory notes and bills of exchange), bilateral and syndicated lending, silent confirmations and payment guarantees that protect exporters against political, credit and transfer risk, and Loan Credit Default Swaps (LCDS) where LFC acts as protection seller. Transactions support up to 100% contract value financing, with tenors ranging from 90 days to seven years and indications provided up to 18 months in advance of delivery.

LFC serves three primary customer segments: export-oriented corporates seeking non-recourse receivables financing and risk transfer, financial institutions looking to manage risk concentration and redeploy trade finance assets via secondary-market transfer, and European football clubs and agencies in Serie A, Premier League, La Liga and Ligue 1 that need financing for player transfer receivables, sponsorship and broadcasting payments. Distribution is conducted through enterprise field sales across ten owned offices in London, New York, São Paulo, St. Julian's (Malta), Cologne, Singapore, Dubai (DIFC), Mumbai, Athens, and Paris, supplemented by associated FIMBank network companies in Brazil, Egypt, Malta, and India.

Revenue is earned through transaction-based fees embedded in the spread on discounted receivables (forfaiting), interest income on lending facilities, fees for confirmation/guarantee risk-taking, and premiums on LCDS protection sales. Pricing is quote-based and transaction-specific, drawing on amount, currency, tenor, country, obligor profile, guarantor profile, underlying commercial transaction, and shipment schedule. LFC markets primarily through its corporate website (which includes a corporate quotation tool and a sport quotation tool delivering feasibility assessments within one business day), email publication distribution, and selective participation in industry events where it has won multiple Global Trade Review Leaders in Trade Awards (2018, 2020) and Trade and Forfaiting Review awards (2017, plus "Best Forfaiting Institution"), and holds founding-member status at the ITFA industry association.

Name

London Forfaiting

Legal name

London Forfaiting Company Limited

Website

https://forfaiting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

London Forfaiting Company is a London-based, UK-registered specialist trade finance firm providing without-recourse forfaiting, lending, silent confirmations and LCDS to export-oriented corporates, financial institutions, and European football clubs across more than 100 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Finance

NAICS

International, Secondary Market, and All Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation (522299), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Receivables Finance (Factoring, Invoice Discounting, Forfaiting) (FSABAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Account Trade Finance (Receivables/Payables Finance) (FSABAHAB), Private Credit — Trade Finance & Receivables Finance (FSAHAJAK)

Keywords

• Forfaiting services
• Trade finance
• Receivables discounting
• Silent confirmations
• Syndicated lending

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Forfaiting: The discounting of trade receivables on a without-recourse basis. LFC purchases debt instruments (promissory notes, bills of exchange) from exporters without recourse, earning income through the discount applied.
2. Lending: Direct lending through bilateral and syndicated loans to clients. Revenue generated through interest income on term loans and revolving loan facilities.
3. Silent Confirmations/Payment Guarantees: Guarantees provided to exporters protecting against political, credit and transfer risk when opening banks do not confirm letters of credit.
4. LCDS (Loan Credit Default Swap): LFC acts as LCDS protection seller, providing risk mitigation for specific syndicated or bilateral loans to counterparties.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

London Forfaiting Company specializes in forfaiting and trade-related finance products, including the non-recourse discounting of trade receivables, bilateral and syndicated lending, silent confirmations/payment guarantees, and Loan Credit Default Swaps (LCDS). It serves export-oriented corporates, financial institutions, and sports clubs/agencies, delivering structured trade finance solutions across more than 100 countries.

Product overview

London Forfaiting offers a portfolio of trade finance products and services centered around its core offerings: Forfaiting (discounting of trade receivables on a without-recourse basis) and Lending (syndicated and bilateral loans). Additional facilities include Silent Confirmations/Payment Guarantees and LCDS (Loan Credit Default Swap). The company serves three main client segments: Corporates (export-oriented companies), Financial Institutions, and Sports Clubs & Agencies. Services are delivered through a global network of offices across New York, London, Malta, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, UAE, India, Egypt, Greece, France, and China.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 100% of contract value can be financed without down payment requirements
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• ITFA (International Trade and Forfaiting Association)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded in 1999, ITFA is the worldwide trade association for companies and institutions engaged in trade and forfaiting. LFC is one of ITFA's founding members and has representatives on the ITFA Executive Board. Lorna Pillow, LFC's COO, currently sits on ITFA's board as Deputy Chairperson responsible for Communications and Membership.
• Loan Market Association (LMA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLMA, established in 1996, improves liquidity, efficiency and transparency in syndicated loan markets in EMEA. LFC uses LMA standard documentation for syndicated and bilateral loans. The association counts over 700 organisations comprising commercial and investment banks, institutional investors, law firms, service providers and rating agencies.
• UK Export Finance (UKEF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUKEF (formerly ECGD) is the UK's export credit agency founded in 1919. It provides insurance and guarantees to support UK exporters. As a UK registered company, LFC is a partner of UK Export Finance. Forfaiting can be used in conjunction with ECA backed credits to finance the uncovered portion of transactions.
• BrasilFactors S.A.minorOthersFIMBank Associated Company located in São Paulo, Brazil. Contact: Marcos Kairuz.
• The Egyptian Company for Factoring S.A.E. (Egypt Factors)minorOthersAssociated company located in Nasr City, Public Free Zone, Cairo, Egypt. Contact: Ahmed Shaheen.
• MedFactors FIMBANK P.L.C.minorOthersAssociated company within the FIMBank Group network.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Demica: London-based fintech platform providing receivables and supply-chain finance solutions for corporates and banks; directly comparable as an alternative trade finance provider and fellow nominee in the GTR 'Best Alternative Trade Finance Provider' category alongside LFC.
• ExWorks Capital: US-based alternative trade finance provider offering supply-chain, forfaiting and lending solutions to exporters; closely overlaps LFC's core trade-finance offering and was a shortlisted co-nominee for the same GTR award.
• Crown Agents Bank: UK-regulated development bank providing trade finance and FX in frontier and emerging markets; directly comparable because it intermediates cross-border trade flows for corporates and financial institutions in jurisdictions where LFC also operates.
• Bibby Financial Services: International invoice finance and receivables-discounting provider active in trade-related credit for SMEs; comparable to LFC's forfaiting and lending franchise on the receivables-financing side of trade finance.

Broad incumbents

• HSBC Trade and Receivables Finance: Global bank's trade finance franchise covering LCs, receivables finance, supply-chain finance and ECA-backed structures; competes with LFC for the same corporate exporters and is one of the large incumbents LFC positions against as a non-bank alternative.
• Standard Chartered Trade Finance: Emerging-markets-focused universal bank with one of the largest global trade-finance books; competes head-to-head with LFC on cross-border emerging-market receivables and structured trade, particularly across Asia, Middle East and Africa.
• Euler Hermes (Allianz Trade): World's largest trade credit insurer, also offering receivables financing and factoring; overlaps with LFC's political/credit/transfer-risk solutions and silent-confirmation products as a broad incumbent in the trade-credit value chain.

Emerging players

• Taulia: Supply-chain finance and dynamic discounting platform embedded in enterprise ERPs; comparable to LFC's corporate receivables-financing offering from a digital-native angle, representing the fintech competitive threat to traditional forfaiters.
• LiquidX: Trade finance network enabling receivables and payables financing, letters of credit and supply-chain finance; overlaps with LFC's forfaiting and secondary-market trade-asset distribution to financial institutions.

Others

• FIMBank p.l.c. Malta-listed parent of LFC and fellow provider of trade finance, factoring and forfaiting solutions; relevant not as a competitor but as the controlling shareholder and a directly adjacent trade-finance platform whose own performance and strategy drive LFC's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights2 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about London Forfaiting