The German mortgage bank will take advantage of new laws in Germany that allow such banks to work in the American markets from 2002
Rheinhyp is to be the first purely German mortgage bank to enter the US market. Preparations are underway to set up a representative office, which will be upgraded to a full branch once legislation has been passed by the German parliament allowing such banks to operate in the US. Rheinhyp expects this to happen in the first half of 2002.
The New York office is expected to give the bank’s new business a major boost. According to Hartmut Wallis, head of Rheinhyp’s board: “We will not limit our activities to the East Coast and Greater New York but also move into other regional markets.”
Last year, Rheinhyp wrote about half the new mortgage lending business of around €6.3bn in markets outside Germany. With 12 offices dotted across Europe, Rheinhyp maintains the densest European network of all German mortgage banks. As the German property market is finding renewed favour among international investors, Rheinhyp has responded by setting up a new unit in the home market as a one-stop shop. Given the decentralised nature of the German sector, this has been a great success and the unit has secured new business worth €290m.
Rheinhyp also plans to set up a business unit focusing on real estate investment banking. It wants to provide financial engineering services for commercial property investments. Activities will include structuring complex transactions and providing mezzanine finance. Rheinhyp wants to work closely with investment banks in capital market transactions, such as IPOs.
Rheinhyp intends to continue all activities under the mortgage banking act. These include lending against residential and commercial properties.
