In brief. Silo is the lender, not an arranger: its own capital, its own decisions, and no one outside the firm can bind it. Before any shares move, your client’s counsel has the full draft documents and your client can see the capital in their own account. No fee is charged before funding.
Many situations reach a lender through an adviser: a private banker whose client holds a concentrated listed position, a broker asked for liquidity without a sale, a lawyer or family-office principal checking whether a structure their client has been offered is sound. This piece answers the questions advisers put to Silo most often.
What is Silo to an adviser?
Silo is a principal capital provider. The capital is Silo’s own, deployed directly; the review, documentation and funding decisions are Silo’s; and no outside party may approve, bind or commit the firm. For an adviser, that has a practical consequence: the counterparty across the table is the lender, not an arranger, a marketplace or a chain of unnamed funding sources. When Silo gives an answer, it is the answer.
Silo does not advise the client, and it does not replace the client’s advisers. The client’s counsel reviews the documents; the client’s banker and accountant advise on the position; Silo structures, documents and funds.
What will Silo show my client before anything moves?
Advisers are right to ask for evidence rather than assurances. Silo’s process is built so that the evidence comes first.
- Who you are dealing with. The website operator is identified in Silo’s Terms of Use. Silo discloses its structure to counterparties directly.
- The full documents, in draft, before signing. A Silo facility is documented through a Facility Agreement, a Collateral Management Agreement, a Promissory Note and a Closing Statement. Full drafts of all four go to the client’s counsel for review before signing. Documentation is prepared by Silo’s in-house counsel, with outside law firms retained in the relevant jurisdictions.
- The capital, where the client can see it. The Facility Agreement and Promissory Note are signed first, so the terms are fixed before anything moves. The client then opens an account in their own name at the designated broker-dealer, and Silo’s capital for the facility is deposited into that account, where the client can see it before any shares are deposited. Only then are the shares deposited, the Collateral Management Agreement executed, and the collateral parameters activated.
- The economics, confirmed in writing, with the client in control of release. Silo issues the Closing Statement confirming the economics. Nothing is released until the client signs it. On the client’s signature, release of funds is instructed immediately; any further tranches follow the Facility Agreement.
Each of these can be checked by the adviser or counsel directly: the Terms of Use are public, the draft documents are in counsel’s hands, and the capital is visible in the client’s own account.
What will Silo not do?
Silo is not a broker, a placement agent or an investment adviser; it charges no fee before funding, quotes no terms before it has underwritten the specific shares, requires no sale of securities to fund a facility, and takes no recourse beyond the pledged collateral.
An adviser who introduces a client does not need to explain the facility. The public pages do that, and Silo answers every substantive question directly and in writing.
What does Silo need to evaluate a situation?
An initial conversation needs only enough to screen for fit: the exchange and ticker, the approximate size of the position, whether the shares are unrestricted and free-trading, and how long the company has been listed. Silo’s published parameters refer to acceptable listed equity, listed for at least three months, with clear ownership and transferability; restricted and control shares are considered case-by-case; typical facility size is USD 1M to 150M and above. The facility itself is described on the Structured Liquidity Facilities page.
Every matter remains subject to Silo’s own review, diligence, approval, jurisdictional analysis, compliance review and definitive documentation. The transaction timetable accommodates the review, clearance and disclosure requirements the client’s counsel identifies.
How do I begin?
Advisers reach Silo through the Institutional Partners page, which is reviewed directly by Silo. For the questions an adviser should put to any securities-backed lender, including Silo, see twelve questions to ask any securities-backed lender. For how a facility is documented, see the four documents of a structured facility.
Frequently asked questions
Does Silo pay introducers?
The Institutional Partners page is not a referral program and not a commission or fee solicitation. Any arrangement with an institution is specific to that institution and documented separately; nothing on this website offers or implies one.
Will my client’s documents be reviewed by their own lawyer?
Yes. Full drafts of all four documents are provided to the client’s counsel for review before signing.
Where are the client’s shares held?
In an account in the client’s own name at a licensed broker-dealer, governed by the Collateral Management Agreement. The operational steps are executed by licensed securities firms and broker-dealers, not by Silo itself.
Can I verify the capital before my client moves any shares?
Yes. Silo’s capital for the facility is deposited into the client’s own account at the designated broker-dealer before any shares are deposited, and the client can see it on login.
What may Silo do with the shares during the term?
What Silo may do is set out in the agreements for each transaction, in one place, together with what does not move: the return of the same number of shares after repayment, dividends made good, no voting unless default, no recourse beyond the collateral. The client’s counsel reads it before signing. Ask every lender the same question; the honest answer is rarely “never”, and the professional answer is written down.
This material is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, tax, securities, accounting or regulatory advice, an offer to lend or provide financing, a solicitation, a recommendation, or a commitment to enter into any transaction. Access may be restricted by jurisdiction or residency. Any potential facility remains subject to Silo’s review, diligence, approval, jurisdictional analysis, compliance review and definitive documentation. Readers should consult their own professional advisers.