German Bank Specialist Report
Business Specialist Report
A small German bank has approached you for advice. It has an office in London which has been operating successfully as a lender for several years but it has never extended its lending in the UK to property. It has recently considered setting up a team in London specifically to lend to the property sector. It would propose only to lend to the commercial investment market or to the development market – both commercial and residential. It has for many years lent on property in Germany but feels that the team based in Germany would be unable to evaluate loan proposals in the UK, particularly as the market is unknown to the team and partly as the English legal system is different from that in Germany.The UK chief executive of the bank has asked you to prepare a report which examines the UK market particularly explaining issues which will be peculiar to this market and critically examining the risks attached to the market. House mortgages are not something which will be considered and so do not need to be discussed.
Concerns which the UK chief executive has raised in discussion, and which need to be dealt with in your paper include the following:
1. The cyclical nature of the market and where it stands today;
2. The comparative risks of the investment and development funding markets;
3. The differing risk levels attached to the different types of property, for instance office, shop, etc;
4. The gradual shortening of leases granted in the commercial property market; and
5. The tendency of banks to lose money from lending to the property sector.
Your report should additionally raise any other issue which you consider to be relevant and important. You should not examine how the German bank raises its funds – as this will be dealt with by the Treasury section of the bank and familiar to the chief executive.
Submission of Assessment 1
The Business Specialist Report will comprise an individual written report covering the matters indicated above. The report should include an executive summary, table of contents and list of figures and tables, in-text referencing and list of references at the end (in accordance with Harvard style), appendices (e.g. comparable data, etc).
The individual report will be word-processed (or text based pdf) and in English and should be approximately 3,000 words in length (+/- 10% excluding cover page, executive summary, table of contents and any in text tables or figures (diagrams), list of references and appendices). The report should include full supporting evidence and referencing should follow the Westminster Harvard referencing style.The Business Specialist Report will be assessed out of 100% and carries 50% of the overall module mark. Reports should be submitted via the module’s Blackboard site (Assessment / Submit Coursework / Turnitin link) on Tuesday 07/03/2023 at 13:00.
The written Business Specialist Report will require the student to conduct research on the UK lending market highlighting the legal and commercial / market risks. This assessment addresses Learning Outcomes LO2, LO3 and LO4, as follows:
LO2. Source and critically analyse economic and financial data in the context of the property sector
LO3. Exhibit systematic and critical awareness and understanding of the lenders approach to property
LO4. Creatively assemble funding structures outside traditional banking and move into investment banking concepts
Please find a short video explaining this assignment via the following link: tbc
Assessment criteria
The assessment criteria and weightings show you what is important in the assessment and how marks are shared across each criterion. When you are completing your assessment remember you need to fulfil the brief and the assessment criteria below. At the end of this document, we have provided you a more detailed marking grid, which describes both the expectation for each criterion and how marks would be awarded based upon performance.
Criterion
Weighting
Introduction and report aim and objectives
10%
Description and analysis of the UK property market and position in cycle
15%
Comparative risks of investment lending and development lending
15%
Comparative risks of the different types of property (by use)
10%
Risks associated with the shortening of commercial occupational leases
10%
Comment upon the losses of banks from property lending
10%
Conclusions and Recommendations
20%
Presentation and Harvard Referencing
10%
The University has arrangements for marking, internal moderation and external scrutiny. Further information can be found in Section 12 of the Handbook of Academic Regulations, westminster.ac.uk/study/current-students/resources/academic-regulations