https://www.watson.am/casebook Watson AM's notes on European property lending: security mechanics explained, regulation read for borrowers, and anatomies of funded deals. en-gb https://www.watson.am/casebook/schuldbrief-mortgage-certificate-switzerland https://www.watson.am/casebook/schuldbrief-mortgage-certificate-switzerland Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Swiss real-estate security lives in a certificate that carries both the claim and the lien. How a mortgage certificate is created under art. 842, its paper and register forms, and why lenders hold title to it. https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-loan-funding-timeline-58-days https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-loan-funding-timeline-58-days Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Watson AM's average time to funding is 58 days, with indicative terms inside 72 hours. What the nine diligence steps spend that calendar on, and why prepared files run faster than the average. https://www.watson.am/casebook/exit-strategy-secured-property-loan https://www.watson.am/casebook/exit-strategy-secured-property-loan Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 An exit strategy is the identified source of repayment: sale, refinancing, or cash flow. Why tenor follows the exit, and what Europe's EUR 86bn refinancing gap taught lenders about testing it. https://www.watson.am/casebook/loan-to-value-property-lending https://www.watson.am/casebook/loan-to-value-property-lending Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A 60% LTV leaves four tenths of the property's value between the lender and a fall in price. How the ratio is built, why the valuation is its soft half, and how a book running from 25% to 80% reads in practice. https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-loan-default-enforcement https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-loan-default-enforcement Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Swiss law channels a defaulted secured loan into supervised realisation, normally a public auction, with proceeds paid out in register order. The route, the rules against self-help, and what decides recovery. https://www.watson.am/casebook/bank-guarantee-property-lending https://www.watson.am/casebook/bank-guarantee-property-lending Sat, 18 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A bank guarantee pays on a compliant call, independent of the loan behind it. What the instrument adds above a mortgage and a personal guarantee, and why its wording decides what it is worth. https://www.watson.am/casebook/first-rank-mortgage-property-lending https://www.watson.am/casebook/first-rank-mortgage-property-lending Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A first-rank mortgage puts the lender first in the queue when a property's value is turned into money. How rank works in the land register, what it protects against, and why it's read together with loan-to-value. https://www.watson.am/casebook/personal-guarantee-property-lending https://www.watson.am/casebook/personal-guarantee-property-lending Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 The mortgage secures the asset; the guarantee reaches the person behind the borrower. Why secured lenders take both, what makes a guarantee enforceable, and where it fails. https://www.watson.am/casebook/conditions-precedent-list-property-finance https://www.watson.am/casebook/conditions-precedent-list-property-finance Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A conditions precedent list is what a borrower must satisfy before a lender releases funds: clean title, registered security, signed guarantees, insurance in force. What sits on it, and where it fails. https://www.watson.am/casebook/twenty-year-refinancing-danish-property https://www.watson.am/casebook/twenty-year-refinancing-danish-property Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A maturing property loan in Greater Copenhagen needed a twenty-year horizon rather than another bridge. How the refinancing was structured and secured against a first-rank mortgage. https://www.watson.am/casebook/basel-iii-property-lending-private-credit https://www.watson.am/casebook/basel-iii-property-lending-private-credit Wed, 24 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 The final phase of Basel III is now law across Europe. Tougher capital rules raise the cost of a bank loan secured against property, and push the complex, mid-market deals a developer needs towards lenders that don't carry the same charge. https://www.watson.am/casebook/approved-but-not-built-europe-stalled-housing https://www.watson.am/casebook/approved-but-not-built-europe-stalled-housing Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Germany ended 2025 with 760'700 approved homes still unbuilt. As permits hold and completions fall to a thirteen-year low, the binding constraint on European housing has shifted from planning to funding. https://www.watson.am/casebook/ubs-credit-suisse-merger-property-lending https://www.watson.am/casebook/ubs-credit-suisse-merger-property-lending Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Three years on, the rescue of Credit Suisse has left Europe one fewer large balance sheet. Tighter capital rules from 2027 push complex, mid-market property deals towards non-bank and private credit lenders. https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-development-finance-rates https://www.watson.am/casebook/property-development-finance-rates Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 The ECB lifted rates for the first time since 2023 and the SNB held at 0%. When the path turns, a slow lender stops being an inconvenience and becomes a cost. Why certainty of close matters more than a headline rate.