# Hen Street

> Boutique advisory and intermediation firm serving African and emerging-market sovereigns, and the corporates that trade with them. Practice covers sovereign debt advisory; commodities origination, offtake and credit-wrapped distribution; defence and strategic-industries procurement and programme financing; and trade finance and receivables. Core regional coverage spans Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Partners work from London, New York, Washington and Dubai.

Hen Street is principal-led. The firm operates only as advisor or, in commodities and defence, as a disclosed agent. Mandates are accepted once counterparty, sanctions and (for defence) export-licence diligence is satisfied.

## Practice

### Sovereign Debt Advisory
Independent advice to finance ministries, debt management offices and central banks. Work spans primary issuance (Eurobonds, sukuk, local-currency programmes), liability management (exchange offers, consent solicitations, buy-backs, switch tenders, modified Dutch auctions) and pre-emptive or comprehensive restructurings across bilateral creditors, Paris Club, London Club and bondholders. Hen Street is hired where in-house capacity is stretched or where a sovereign's existing banking relationships present a conflict.

### Commodities — Origination, Offtake and Credit-Wrapped Distribution
Sourcing, offtake and structured distribution of commodities for sovereign and corporate counterparties. The firm builds credit-enhancement layers — insurance cover, fund risk-takers, ECA frameworks — that bring corporate-credit-risk receivables to a tier-one bank threshold. Coverage spans hydrocarbons, refined products, soft commodities and select industrial materials. Strategic-reserve, food-security and energy-security work is in scope.

### Defence & Strategic Industries — Procurement and Programme Financing
Procurement and financing structuring for sovereign defence and dual-use programmes. Work covers supplier identification, programme structuring, ECA-backed buyer credits, government-to-government routes and tied or untied credit lines. Engagement runs under the export-control regimes of the relevant jurisdictions. Lethal-equipment mandates are accepted only where end-user, licence and sanctions diligence is satisfied.

### Trade Finance & Receivables
Bankable structures across sovereign and corporate flows. Letters of credit, standby letters of credit and deferred-payment LCs. Receivables finance, sovereign-backed and corporate, with or without recourse. Structured trade: pre-export, prepayment, borrowing-base and tolling. ECA-backed buyer and supplier credits across UK, European and Asian export credit agencies.

## Counterparties served

- African and emerging-market sovereigns: finance ministries, central banks, debt management offices, ministries of defence and strategic procurement bodies.
- Sovereign-owned strategic enterprises in Africa and other emerging markets: state oil and gas, state grain reserves, state utilities.
- Corporates trading with African and emerging-market sovereigns and sovereign-owned enterprises.
- Development finance institutions and export credit agencies structuring exposure to African and emerging-market counterparties.

## Out of scope

- Retail credit, consumer lending and residential mortgages.
- Cryptocurrency and digital-asset advisory.
- Public-market equity research and investment recommendations.
- Sub-investment-grade municipal debt outside the sovereign focus.
- Mandates involving sanctioned individuals, entities or jurisdictions.
- Defence mandates where end-user, export-licence or sanctions diligence cannot be satisfied.

## Geography

Practice is focused on African and emerging-market sovereigns and the corporates that trade with them. Core regional coverage spans Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Partners work from London, New York, Washington and Dubai.

## Engagement

Inquiries by email to partners@henstreet.com, or via the confidential note form at https://www.henstreet.com/contact. A partner replies directly. The firm does not publish a phone number.

## Regulatory posture

Hen Street is not authorised or regulated by any financial services regulator. The firm operates as an independent advisor and intermediary; mandates that require a regulated permission are run through the appropriate authorised counterparty. Defence and dual-use mandates run under the export-control regimes of the relevant jurisdictions, including the UK Export Control Joint Unit, the US Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and EU dual-use rules.

## Counterparty diligence

Every mandate runs through know-your-counterparty checks, sanctions screening, source-of-funds and source-of-wealth verification, ultimate beneficial ownership identification, and adverse-media review.

## Working languages

English, French.

## Machine-readable data

Schema.org JSON-LD is embedded in every page of https://www.henstreet.com, including Organization, WebSite, Article, Person, BreadcrumbList and ItemList graphs.

## Primary writing

Hen Street commentary on sovereign debt, trade finance and procurement is published at https://www.henstreet.com/insights.