Our client was an ultra-high net worth individual who owned three properties in the UK. He was a US taxpayer with a non-domiciled status in the UK. He owned multiple assets worldwide with a net value of more than £300m. He was looking to refinance an £8m mortgage on one of his London homes.
We secured a deal at a margin of 1.2%, which was subsequently fixed for 5 years at less than 5%. A fee of 0.5% was added to the loan, with no further brokerage fee charged.
We have recently secured large mortgages for clients with similar non-domiciled status with high street banks, who were able to base their lending on the clients’ US tax returns.
In the case at hand, this was not possible due to the client’s complicated tax affairs. Due to numerous assets and income streams held worldwide, most banks would require a very involved application process, requiring verification of the various assets. One of the big four accountancy firms handled the client’s returns, but engaging them to prepare the necessary details would have been expensive and time-consuming.
We were able to source a deal with a private bank that was happy to verify the assets with a simple statement of their details, with an attestation from the client’s tax attorney. We engaged several banks to obtain the best possible terms for the client and to secure the deal. The bank was willing to cut their margin to one usually reserved for £10m+ loans to secure the deal. A 10-year term and full interest-only was offered.
Finally, the bank was happy for the client to use his own solicitors on a dual representation basis (rather than having separate solicitors), further easing the application process.
The client has secured a market-leading product with a far simpler application process than he would usually have faced. We are now looking to arrange a second deal for the client, this time in dollars.