The Structured Finance Support Fund will operate in primary and secondary markets for term securitisation programs, as well as new and existing warehouses, the Australian Office of Financial Management said in guidelines for the scheme issued yesterday.Under the SFSF program, the government is providing the AOFM with A$15 billion to invest in structured finance markets used by smaller lenders, including small ADIs and non-ADIs.This support will be provided by making direct investments in primary market securitisations by these lenders and in warehouse facilities. AOFM's investment will not be limited to RMBS; it will also be purchasing assets that support small business and consumer lending.Eligible lenders are non-ADIs of any size and ADIs that do not have the capacity to provide the collateral that is acceptable to the Reserve Bank under the term funding facility and are not subsidiaries of another ADI that does have access to the TFF.Eligible lenders need to access their finance through securitisation. "Where the lender does not access their finance through securitisation they should seek advice on how they can adjust their funding model to access the SFSF," the AOFM said.The AOFM said it was open to approaches from lenders that are ready to launch deals and it has recommended that they contact their lead managers for advice.It will give preference to transactions with "substantive support" from other investors.The AOFM said it was actively engaging with warehouse providers and recommended that lenders in the category approach their warehouse providers for assistance in setting out expressions of interest.Included in the SFSF rules, the AOFM will not invest in first loss securities, which are defined as securities that do not benefit from any subordination and will be the first to suffer any losses.Under the SFSF legislation the fund will be credited with income, capital returns and other financial distributions. This will allow the fund to reinvest its earnings.