Are there restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders, and, if so, what are they?
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders. However, as mentioned above, there are restrictions to foreign ownership of real estate, being the granting of surface rights the most common way for foreign to own title over property. According to the relevant Angolan law it is possible to execute a mortgage deed having as security a surface right.
No, there are no restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders. However, foreign exchange regulations issued by the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) enacted from time to time may affect the repayment of foreign currency loans or the repatriation of funds.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders. The Foreign Acquisition & Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) (FATA) treats a mortgagee's interest in Australian land as being an interest the acquisition of which may require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. However, approval is not required where the mortgage is granted in the ordinary course of a money-lending business and is provided as security for a money-lending agreement entered into in the course of such business.
There are no legal restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
As far as the financing of real estate investments is concerned, both private individuals and legal entities not resident in Belgium, may invest in Belgian real estate, whether outright or via the means of a company, and may obtain loans for this purpose from both Belgian or foreign banks without (in principle) any restriction or limitation. However, by virtue of Belgian domestic tax law and certain Belgian tax treaties, the source of the interest payment may be considered to lie where the real asset is located, ie in Belgium. In such cases, the borrower can be liable to pay a withholding tax on the interest payments to the bank. The payment of such withholding tax could turn out to be significant for the lender or, if a gross-up is provided for in the loan agreement, for the borrower.
There are no such restrictions. Security can be granted to foreign lenders.
As long as the individual or legal entity is registered with the Federal Tax Department, it is entitled to grant a security over real estate, regardless of whether it is foreign or not. However, foreign individuals or legal entities controlled directly or indirectly by foreigners are subject to restrictions on the acquisition of rural and border areas. Therefore, although Law No. 5,709/1971 (included by the Law No. 13,986/2020) does not extend to the constitution and registration of the fiduciary alienation of rural property to foreigners, this restriction may create difficulties in executing a security in such scenario.
Depending on the province in which any mortgaged property is located a foreign lender may need to obtain a license or be registered in order to do business in such province and to lend in such jurisdiction.
According to the Foreign Exchange Administration Rules on Cross-border Security promulgated by the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on 12 May 2014, the provision of security or a guarantee by a PRC entity for an overseas lender no longer requires SAFE’s prior approval, but must be registered with SAFE or its local counterparts within 15 working days after the execution of the relevant security or guarantee documents. There are no restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders, except that such onshore real estate mortgage for offshore debt should also comply with the restrictions on use of proceeds as provided in the aforesaid SAFE rule, which include that (i) the debt proceeds can only be used within the debtor’s ordinary scope of business and not for speculative purposes, and (ii) absent the SAFE approval, the debt proceeds must not be remitted into China, but in practice, foreign lenders may encounter practical difficulty registering the mortgage with the local real estate registration centres.
One point worth noting is that as of today SAFE is still not processing the conversion of any offshore currency loans advanced by overseas lender to a real estate foreign-invested entities (FIEs). This means that all funding of real estate FIEs must be by way of equity or onshore financing.
No text yet.
The same restrictions apply to the fiduciary transfer of ownership to foreigners as to any transfer of ownership of real estate to foreigners. The purchase of real estate in Croatia by foreign investors other than EU citizens or companies with their registered seat in the EU is permitted only if Croatian citizens may acquire real estate in the investor's home country, and is subject to written consent from the Ministry of Justice. The process of obtaining such consent is slow and complex, usually taking approximately a year (or more in some cases), but can be avoided if the foreign investor incorporates a Croatian company.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
Should the foreign lender be a bank, specific requirements relating in particular to banking licences must be satisfied.
And, of course, all lenders are subject to the Anti-Money-Laundering regulation.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
In principle, French banking monopoly rules prohibit institutions other than licensed credit institutions or licensed financial institutions from carrying out banking operations in France on a customary basis and for valuable consideration. However, there are certain exceptions to this general rule, particularly for European long-term investment funds and certain alternative investment funds. Therefore, unless qualifying for such exception, a foreign lender participating in a financing transaction considered to be located in France must be licensed in France or hold an EU passport so as not to violate the French banking monopoly rules.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders (subject to lenders being duly licensed/qualified if they are to benefit from Dailly assignment of receivables, as Dailly assignment of receivables may only be granted to a lender that is a credit institution or financial institution duly licensed in France or holding an EU passport or an European long-term investment funds and certain alternative investment funds (as listed by the French Monetary and Financial Code), it being specified that, in the event of assignment or transfer of loan secured by a Dailly assignment, the existing Dailly assignment granted to a qualifying assignor/transferor will continue to secure the assigned or transferred portion of the loan independent of the quality of the assignee/transferee).
Some security interests are not available when the law of the underlying secured obligation does not recognize it.
There are no restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
There are no additional restrictions on security providers regarding the granting of security over real estate due to the mortgagee being a foreign lender. Please note, however, that the lender shall comply with all mandatory provisions of Hungarian law applicable to providers of financial services as cross border services. On the basis of the laws introduced originally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in certain cases the creation of mortgage or other security interest over real estate in favour of a lender with an ownership structure involving directly or indirectly certain foreign elements requires a notification to and acknowledgement by the competent Hungarian ministry.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
In principle, no restrictions to the granting of security over real estate assets apply in relation to foreign landers. There are, however, certain kinds of security which can be granted only in favour of certain categories of lenders, the main one being the floating charge (privilegio) under Article 46 of the Banking Law which can only be granted in favour of banks.
However, please note that pursuant to the current Italian legal rules, only banks and other authorised financial institutions are entitled to carry out lending activities on a professional basis in the country.
In particular, lending vis-à-vis the public (together with certain other financial activities, including the acquisition of receivables) is reserved to:
EU Banks and Non-EU Banks (as well as EU financial companies under paragraph (e) above) can operate either (x) by establishing a branch office in Italy or (y) on a cross-border basis, without the need to establish any legal structure in the Italian territory.
There are no restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders or on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement, unless sanctioned persons or jurisdictions are involved. An ex-post-facto Bank of Japan filing is required for a non-Japanese resident taking security from a Japanese resident over real estate in Japan.
There are no general restrictions on granting security over real estate to foreign lenders. However, along with national lenders, foreign lenders also need to comply with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme). According to this act, a financial institution needs to perform a thorough Client Due Diligence (CDD) and report any transaction that could involve money laundering or financing terrorism to the FIU-Nederland (Financial Intelligence Unit-Nederland).
There are no restrictions on payments made to foreign lenders under a security document or loan agreement.
New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Act 2005 (OIA) requires overseas persons to acquire consent under the OIA for acquisitions of interests in residential land for a total term of three years or more or interests in other “sensitive land” of ten years or more. “Interest” is defined in the OIA as any legal or equitable interest in land, and extends to acquisitions of security interests.
However, there is an exemption available for genuine lenders, where the overseas lender can be exempt from the requirement for consent if money is lent and the security is acquired under a “permitted security arrangement.” Permitted security arrangements are those that require property to be retransferred to the original transferor or extinguished following payment or performance of the obligation (such as a mortgage or charge), provided the arrangements have been entered into by the parties in good faith and in the ordinary course of business and not with the intention to make an overseas investment in sensitive land.
For further discussion of the consent process as well as what qualifies sensitive land or an overseas person see the Corporate vehicles section on real estate investment by foreigners.
Generally, a Nigerian company may source for funding through various means including borrowing, subject to the provision of its memorandum and articles of association. A lender may take as security; rights over the property of the company including real property but any security interest on the property must be registered at the relevant lands registry and the Corporate Affairs Commission. There are restrictions to the grant of security in real property to a foreign lender in Nigeria.
In practice, a foreign lender may take security in real estate through an incorporated Nigerian Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Where the borrower’s real estate is owned through an SPV, the foreign lender may create security over the shares held by the borrower in the SPV.
A registered entity in Nigeria may be appointed by a foreign lender as a security trustee to hold the real property asset being used as security.
Except where there is a violation of sanctions regulations, there are no general restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
There are no restrictions on granting security over real estate for foreign lenders.
Foreign lenders are not subject to any kind of restrictions or legal barriers concerning the creation of security over real estate property located in Portugal in favour of the same.
As a general rule, there are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
Parties may not choose any law other than Romanian law to govern mortgage agreements referring to assets located in Romania.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
No.
There is no restriction on granting a mortgage over real estate to foreign lenders but the registration approval is at the sole discretion of the registrar. The registrar can refuse the registration of a mortgage over real estate on the grounds that he believes that the borrower is a nominee of the foreign lenders. Evidence such as loan agreements and a money transfer certificate must be presented to the registrar in order to clarify the nominee issue.
This area is governed by regulations laid down by the UAE Central Bank. Under these regulations, a financier that wishes to take security over real property must be a bank, company or financial institution that is registered with the UAE Central Bank to provide property finance. As mentioned above, it is therefore market practice for foreign (unlicensed) financiers to appoint a locally licensed security agent to act on its behalf and to be the mortgagee of record for the purposes of any mortgage registration.
This area is governed by regulations laid down by the UAE Central Bank. Under these regulations, a financier that wishes to take security over real property must be a bank, company or financial institution that is registered with the UAE Central Bank to provide property finance. As mentioned above, it is therefore generally accepted market practice for foreign (unlicensed) financiers to appoint a locally licensed security agent to act on its behalf and to be the mortgagee of record for the purposes of any mortgage registration.
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders (in the absence of any issues around sanctions or anti-money laundering concerns).
There are no restrictions on granting security to foreign lenders.
Generally, Ukrainian law does not prohibit mortgaging and transferring into trust ownership of real estate and land (except for agricultural land) to foreign lenders. Such security instruments are recognized as enforceable. Mortgage and trust ownership over agricultural land is not practically possible due to moratorium on transfer of such type of land.
According to the recent legislative changes known in Ukraine as "Opening up of the land market in Ukraine", the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign lenders and, consequently, the establishment of a mortgage over such land in favour of foreign lenders can be allowed only by a Ukrainian referendum.
Ukrainian law further provides for that Ukrainian agricultural land cannot be owned (which effectively means that the establishment of a mortgage over agricultural land in favour of the below listed persons is not possible) by, among others:Ukrainian law further provides for that Ukrainian agricultural land cannot be owned (which effectively means that the establishment of a mortgage over agricultural land in favour of the below listed persons is not possible) by, among others:
Depending on the state in which any mortgaged property is located and whether any portion of the mortgaged property is designated for residential use, a foreign lender may need to obtain a license in order to lend in such state. While lending activity is generally not implicated, in certain circumstances a federal statutory requirement to file a national security clearance process overseen by the US federal government body known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) may be required.
Foreign lenders can be granted security over real estate subject to obtaining exchange control approval from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as stipulated in Exchange Control Act Regulations Statutory Instrument 109 of 1996.
