The Sunday Times - Invasion of the foreign lenders
The mortgage market is seeing a wave of foreign private banks chasing wealthy borrowers with interest rates as low as 1.74% a year. Brokers are recommending Scandinavian, Middle Eastern and Asian banks that are undercutting the high street with ultra-competitive deals to lure homebuyers seeking £500,000-plus loans.
Some high-end lenders, such as the private banking division of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, are more flexible about the amount of assets that customers need to transfer over, said Aaron Strutt at Trinity Financial, the broker.