Money matters

Be ready for the questions

When it comes to loan processes, it’s not quite as simple as putting on a suit, paying a visit to your friendly bank manager and handing over a wad of wage slips, bills and details of outgoings. In the wake of the recession, banks have tightened up approval procedures for this kind of process.

For the port sector, there are different conditions and internal approval processes which vary between banks, and for the types of transaction. “Whereas most commercial banks should be able to get credit approval in a couple of weeks, most processes usually last longer due to the entire process complexity,” says DNB’s Mr Paasman. “Quite often after the first contact with a bank about a project, many parts of the project are still in flux, because they are being negotiated with other parties, like the concession agreement, shipping line agreements, construction agreements and plans/budgets are being fine-tuned by the management.”

Mr Paasman explains that for a non-recourse loan, lenders expect a full information package which includes reports from reputable, independent advisers that analyse the market and future cargo flows, a separate report that analyses construction and environmental aspects, another report about the insurance programme and a financial model.