Specialist financiers move into the mainstream

摘要

Specialist financing is one of the fastest growing sectors in finance. Indeed, such is its growth and relevance to today's needs, the term "alternative finance" no longer applies: it has become part of the mainstream. A recent Dubai-based forum held by Falcon Group explored a wide range of factors; including ongoing bank retrenchment, turbulent stock markets, fluctuating commodity prices and revised growth figures from the IMF - all of which have contributed to a climate of uncertainty in the global economy but have supported specialist lending as a means of filling the void. The central cause of the void is, of course, that bank lending continues to be constrained. Since the 2008 crisis, banks have been nationalised, merged, regulated, deleveraged and liquidated - resulting in a pared-down banking sector with fewer active players and with a reduced capacity and appetite for lending. The result: banks have become increasingly selective.