Investing with Trine comes with the risk of capital loss due to non-performing loans. This can mean that repayments are delayed, the loan needs to be restructured or that the loan defaults. Trine manages the process of debt recovery and the default process on behalf of our investors. While we aim to always find solutions that enable the borrower to fulfil their obligations of repaying the loan, there is always an element of risk.
Continued monitoring
At Trine, we maintain a close dialogue with our borrowers from the moment they submit a loan application until their loan is fully repaid. The monitoring consists of the following:
Regular calls with the borrowers where we get the latest business updates. This allows our Investment Managers to assess their needs and challenges on a continuous basis.
Quarterly reporting by the borrowers based on their contractual obligations. This provides additional information on the progress of the company and enables the investment team to evaluate certain key financial metrics, their financial and operational health, as well as their ability to repay.
Delayed repayments
Delayed less than 10 business days
Trine will always inform investors if we know there will be a delay in repayments. However, the dates in an expected repayment schedule should be treated as preliminary and a few days delay in repayment is not unusual. Repayments are coming from around the world and this can mean bank transfers take longer than expected.
Delayed more than 10 days
After any delay to a repayment, Trine will contact the solar company to find out more information. This will lead to:
An update to investors via email and in the repayment schedule;
New invoices sent out, including late fees (interest rate + 2% p.a.);
Continued communication and monitoring of the company to decide whether we need to escalate it to the next level.
In the event the borrower is experiencing financial and operational challenges, the borrower will initiate a request for restructuring of the outstanding loan facility.
Trine will communicate to investors the borrower’s intent to restructure its outstanding loan amount after investigating and assessing that the request reflects the borrower's true position.
The borrower will then be put into “restructuring” status as Trine works with the borrower to agree on a proper restructuring plan. The outcome of the restructuring process can be the following:
Restructured: Both Trine and the borrower agree on a repayment schedule and the same is communicated to investors.
Best effort: In this case, the borrower agrees to repay the outstanding loans but not on an irregular basis.
Defaulted: The borrower can no longer repay the outstanding loan amount. In the event of a default for the loans with guarantee protection, Trine will initiate the claim process for the guarantee. Once Trine receives the guarantee payment, it will send out the payment to the specific guaranteed investors in the loan.
If the borrower does not give Trine a plan on how to get back on track, Trine will escalate the situation and the most likely outcomes are:
Notifying the borrower that we are accelerating the loan.
Identify a third party that can overtake the assets and continue operations.
Transfer assets in a sale process.
In parallel, we are looking into any existing investment protection and paying this out to investors.
You can read about our debt recovery glossary here.
If you have any questions or concerns, we are here to help. Please reach out to us at hello@trine.com.