Oligarch Enclaves in London Opening to Bond Buyers
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Buying a home in London’s most affluent areas is becoming unattainable for anyone without a billionaire’s bank balance. For those feeling squeezed out, a Swiss private bank is offering a side door to the market.
The U.K. unit of Zurich-based EFG International AG sold bonds backed by mortgages on homes in the Knightsbridge and Chelsea districts, where Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and billionaire shipowner John Fredriksen own homes. The average value of the mortgages is 1.5 million pounds ($2.5 million) and the loans account for about 50 percent of property values, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.