About Us
Press and Case Studies
Press
Read some of our recent press at the links below
The Irish Times: Feelgood Movie of the year drives buyers to Greece
Property Wire: Greece voted the 'Top Place To Go in 2009' by Flight Centre
Propertywire: What are banks doing to help customers in the current economic climate?
Case studies
A Greek Property Delight! Happy Greek Ending
Miss B approached the Bank in 2006 to help finance her self build property on the beautiful Greek island of Meganisi. Building your own property can be challenging at the best of times and even more so when this is in a foreign country. We discussed with Miss B the financing options available in order that her loan was structured in the best way to suit her needs. Miss B had the advantage that her parents already live in Meganisi and had undertaken a similar self build project themselves, so she was able to get personal recommendations for good builders and architects etc. The property was successfully completed in early 2007 with the final value being much greater than anticipated. The project was such a success that Miss B took out a mortgage for a second property.
UK Pot of Gold
Mr C is from a shipping background and bought his first investment property in London in the mid 1970's. Since then he has continued to invest in real estate and with great success. His business model is to invest in Central London properties, refurbishing them to a very high specification. Mr C was referred to us by a colleague in our Greek branch network and from the outset of our relationship he stressed that the customer's requirements included first class service with particular focus on flexibility and speed of response. Our Personal Banking team have managed to exceed his expectations and have subsequently worked with Mr C on a number of successful London projects.
UK Happy Ending
Mr D was introduced to us from our Yacht and Sail Finance division in Athens. He is a high net worth individual with a background in the film industry. Mr D identified an investment property in one of the most prestigious central London locations. We worked closely with Mr D to ensure that the loan be drawn–down in what was a very challenging time scale. Unfortunately, all was not as it seemed and on closer examination, what originally seemed like a bargain was far from it. A number of issues were identified that would have a severe impact on the future marketability of this property and after much discussions with the bank, Mr D decided not to proceed. He was disappointed that the sale had fallen through but thanked us for our timely communications and the fact that he has been protected from purchasing a property that would have been difficult if not impossible to sell.