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Major bank toughens lending policy for commercial SMSF loans
From the end of this week, one of the major banks will be introducing stricter criteria for SMSF commercial loans including a minimum borrowing amount of $1.5 million and a requirement for the SMSF to hold at least $5 million in net assets.
From Friday, 29 March 2019, NAB will be introducing changes to its lending policy for SMSF corporate entities as part of an ongoing review of its products and policies.
In order to be eligible for SMSF business lending from this date onwards, NAB customers will need to have an existing relationship with NAB of at least two years and have borrowing needs of $1.5 million or greater.
“An existing relationship is defined as a customer that holds a business lending facility for at least two years. This excludes standalone lease facilities, guarantees or credit cards,” NAB stated.
They will also need to have a minimum of $5 million in total net assets in SMSF.
Customers will also need to meet other credit parameters including:
- Principal and interest fully amortised over the term of the loan
- Cash reserves remaining in the SMSF at settlement being the equivalent of 12 months
- Principal and interest obligations
- All members of the SMSF must be in accumulation phase when the funding is provided and for the duration of the loan tenor
NAB stated that it will no longer accept new SMSF applications unless all of the criteria are met, but will continue to support existing SMSF lending arrangements.
The major bank said that its decision to change the lending policy was based on the fact that lending to SMSFs “is more complex and requires additional consideration”.
“For this reason, NAB has altered the SMSF offering to ensure our customers are in the best position to obtain their desired financial outcomes,” it said.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
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