An enquiry was received from a Bangladeshi national who holds residency in the UAE. The individual had agreed to acquire a new build property at a prestigious development in Chelsea, West London. The property would be held for income generation and capital appreciation.
- South Asian UBO
- Energy Industry
- £1.3m Investment Property
- Prime Central London
- Hybrid Mortgage
- LTV 70.00% / 2.25% + SONIA / 0.50% Fee
The client was a high-net worth individual with a truly global footprint in terms of investments and business interests. The majority of their income was generated via businesses in the energy and distribution industries in South Asia and the UAE.
At the time of placing, the UAE was on the grey list published by FATF. This, coupled with the connection to the energy industry, limited the pool of lenders with appetite for this transaction.
We were looking for a high LTV at 70%, which is something difficult to come by for a non-UK resident acquiring investment property in Prime Central London.
This transaction certainly did not sit with a high street bank, and was outside the comfort zone for many of the private banks in London, most of whom required AUM.
After some negotiation, we were able to place this transaction with a global private bank whose lending business is located outside of the UK. This lender had knowledge of the client’s businesses via other avenues and was therefore comfortable with the revenue and sectors of operation.
As an added extra, we were able to leverage our network of professionals in order to speed up the legal process and put in place some tax planning initiatives around succession and UK IHT.
This case study evidences the need for a global operation when it comes to servicing clients with international interests. The lender, lawyers and tax advisors that made this acquisition possible where all based outside of the UK. We were able to meet together with the client and professionals to ensure a seamless conclusion.