Morning Briefing: NAB joins foreign lending crackdown

NAB has become the third major lender to announce tightened lending conditions for foreign buyers... New P2P platform aims at small business and SMSF...

NAB joins foreign lending crackdown
NAB has become the third major lender to announce tightened lending conditions for foreign buyers.

The new rules, which came into effect on 14 May, will see NAB only lend 60% of a property’s value to foreign buyers, down from 70% previously.

In addition, the major bank will recognise just 60% of foreign income sources, will no longer be accepting foreign sourced self-employed income, and will be tightening income verification requirements.

A NAB spokesperson said in a statement, “All foreign home loan applications are considered on a case by case basis and assessed under strict verification standards for employment and income, as well undertaking stringent risk processes.

“These settings are continually reviewed, and controls are tightened where necessary. NAB has limited appetite for this segment which comprises less than 2% of the NAB book.”

New P2P platform aims at small business and SMSF 
A start-up peer-to-peer finance platform Lendex, is due to launch next month by former Indigo Telecom boss David Ruddiman.

The venture has secured backing from Thorney Investment Group and aims to raise $25 million for SMSF borrowers next quarter, the Australian Financial Review reports.

The P2P platform will target self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

"The platform matches creditworthy borrowers with unrelated wholesale investors (lenders) looking to invest in alternative asset-based investments that have a low correlation to the share market," LendEx co-founder and chief executive David Ruddiman said.