To assist viable businesses and entrepreneurs to recover from the financial fallout and impact of COVID-19. As a boutique solution to COVID recovery, the form and content of Firstline’s COVID Recovery Financial Services is flexible so that it can be tailored to the specific needs of your business.

This is a tailored product so the structure of any proposed facility will be different from client to client.

However, the following indicative terms can be used as guidance:

1. Minimum Amount: TT$1 million.
2. Maximum Amount: TT$6 million.
3. Minimum Term:  Six months.
4. Maximum Term: Three years.
5. Moratorium on Principal and Interest: Consideration can be given to offering a moratorium on principal and interest for a period not exceeding six months.
6. Repayment: Repayment terms can be structured so that payments can be made in lump sums over the tenor of the facility.
7. Interest and Fees: Your business is responsible for paying all interest and fees. Late payments usually attract a penalty interest rate of an additional 2% on the coupon rate.
8. Pricing: While it is hard to give an indicative assessment of the range of prices, Firstline prices its products according to risk.
9. Collateral: Collateral is required to secure any facility advanced under Firstline’s COVID Recovery Financial Services. We’ll expand on this below.

To be eligible for Firstline’s COVID Recovery Financial Services the following requirements must be met:

1. Your business must be viable or would be if not for the impact of COVID-19:
   You must present accurate and reliable financial information to support this requirement.
2. Your business must have been impacted by COVID-19:
   You must present information that indicates the impact of COVID on turnover, expenses, profit, balance sheet, cashflow and liquidity.
3. No arrears on any existing facilities:
   If you had facilities with other financial institutions those facilities must have been current as at the 11th March 2020.
4. No insolvency proceedings:
   Your business must not be currently involved in insolvency proceedings.
5. Up to date financials and business plan:
   Your business must have up to date financial statements and a viable business plan that indicates an ability to recover from the impact of COVID-19. The existence of a viable business plan is vital in order for us to offer a tailored boutique financial solution for your business.

Many of these requirements extend to other businesses you may own or your own financial circumstances, especially those that relate to insolvency proceedings.

To qualify for Firstline’s COVID Recovery Financial Services there are certain conditions that you or your business must be able to satisfy.

1. Skin in the game:
   Skin in the game equates to having some equity in your business. The equity that you have in your business must be at least 25% of the amount that you wish to finance with us.
2. Strong collateral:
   The collateral value you have in your business or elsewhere must be equal to exceed 1.5 times the amount that you wish to finance. The collateral offered as security must be unencumbered.
3. Multiple sources of debt servicing:
   Satisfying this requirement can be done in several ways. Perhaps your business sells multiple products or has multiple clients that create income that can be used to service your proposed facility. Perhaps you own a number of businesses that create more than one income stream.
4. A strong financial foundation:
   Does your business have a strong financial foundation, or did it have, prior to COVID-19?
5. Marketability:
   Firstline is a licensed broker-dealer and any funds advanced to you by and large come from individuals and entities that invest with us. This means that your business and your facility must be marketable and attractive to our underlying investors.

As a licensed financial institution, there are regulatory requirements that must be satisfied before we can work with you. You must provide information on a timely basis that allows us to complete due diligence on your business and its principal owners.

We aim to complete an offer of financing within three weeks of initial contact. This timeline of course requires you to provide all requested information in a timely manner