€5.6 Million Monaco Property Purchase For A Chinese National

Key Facts:

Nationality: British-Canadian/Chinese national and resident (the individual was also a US national at the start of the purchase process)

Net-worth: £60 million+

Property: €5.6 million Monaco property, main residence

Requirements: 100% LTV, at the most competitive rate available

Product: 100% LTV mortgage with 40% assets under management (of which 30% was pledged). Rate 1.35%+ EURIBOR (3 months), 5-year term

In this situation, we were referred a client by an introducer who had tried to secure the loan for the client themselves but had had the application fail due to the complications of the case. Our client was looking for a mortgage of €5.6 million that would allow them to purchase a main residence in Monaco, where they were moving. When the case fell through, the introducer contacted us and we had just seven weeks to complete the deal, which was challenging given the mortgage amount, the time of year (due to seasonal holidays which could have delayed the financing application) and the client’s background.

Arranging the mortgage was especially challenging because of the client’s nationality: the client was a British-Canadian and Chinese national, and was resident in China. However, at the beginning of the process, they still had a US passport that they were in the process of renouncing, although the timeframe for doing this was unclear. We essentially had to work out various options that would allow the client to access a mortgage on the basis of being a US passport holder, as well as in a scenario where they were not a US passport holder, in case they managed to renounce their passport before the application process was completed. Communications with the lender were also a challenge, given the bank could not communicate directly with the borrower, and due to the cross-border regulations that needed to be considered.

Working out financing options for the client under all the different scenarios and executing at the last minute was the only viable way forward to ensure the client could complete the transaction in time. This took considerable time and effort on our side but was, naturally, part of our standard service to the client.

We ultimately negotiated a mortgage with a bank that could consider the client’s background and that was willing to meet all the necessary cross-jurisdictional regulations to ensure the deal could go ahead. This meant working closely with the lender at all times and acting as something of a central point of contact between the bank and the client.

We delivered a 100% loan-to-value mortgage at the most competitive price available on the market, which was the primary requirement of the client. To access these terms, the client placed 40% assets under management (of which 30% was pledged), with the bank offering a rate 1.35%+ EURIBOR with a 5-year term.