Bridge Financing Companies in Singapore: How Foreign Buyers Vet a Lender

You already have a shortlist. The question is not what a bridging loan is. It is which of the bridge financing companies in Singapore will actually complete for a foreign buyer.

A local resident can usually tell a broker from a balance-sheet lender. You often cannot. You are working through counsel, an Option to Purchase with a clock on it, and a website that looks institutional.

Some of those names never hold the capital. A few will quote a rate, ask for a fee, and never sit on the charge.

Start with who holds the capital

The first filter is crude, and it works. Does the firm lend its own money, or does it introduce you to someone else?

Bridge financing companies that are direct private lenders name the lending entity, describe the security they will take, and issue their own term sheet. Brokers talk about a panel and 'indicative appetite'. If the person on the call cannot say which company will appear on the first charge, walk away.

Rikvin Capital is a direct private lender. The Singapore entity operates as an excluded moneylender under the Moneylenders Act, and we lend only to accredited investors and corporates. We are not a bank and are not bound by TDSR. We underwrite the asset and the exit.

Since 2018 we have funded $1B+ across 300+ deals. Ask every name on your list for the lending entity, its posture under the Act, and a completed facility of similar size.

The legal status foreign buyers misread

Singapore has licensed retail moneylenders and a separate excluded or exempt class that may lend to accredited investors and corporates. They are not interchangeable.

A retail licence does not mean the firm can fund your holdco. If a website buries the entity name, or quotes consumer-style instalments, it is the wrong desk.

You still need a lender that will complete KYC on non-resident money. Banks apply a haircut to overseas income under the TDSR framework. We do not run that income test, but we still need source of funds, the ownership chain, and a credible exit. Start that work before you need to draw down.

For the facility itself, foreigner bridging loans are underwritten on the Singapore asset, not on your home-country salary. If a bank has already discounted your overseas income, we have set out that problem for non-resident buyers.

Holdcos, KYC and fees before a term sheet

Many foreign buyers purchase through an offshore holdco. Some bridge financing companies will not take that security. Ask in the first call, and get the answer in writing.

Will they take a first charge over the Singapore property in the SPV? Will they want a share charge or a personal guarantee? If the answer is 'we will see after valuation', they have not done the structure.

The issues we actually work through are set out in our note on Singapore bridging finance via an offshore holdco. Eligible security is Singapore real estate, and for foreign buyers that usually means condominiums and commercial shophouses. Foreigners and foreign-owned companies generally cannot buy landed residential property without approval, and Good Class Bungalows are in practice restricted to citizens.

Residential property bought through a company also attracts ABSD at the entity rate, which moves the numbers well before our facility does. We do not give tax advice: put the structure in front of your own tax and legal advisers early. Thin equity does not become a good loan because the house is in a good district.

Pay nothing material before a written term sheet from the named lending entity. Valuation is real, and it is usually for your account once you instruct. An arrangement or commitment fee demanded before you have that paper is a warning.

How the lending process works is short: enquiry, KYC, a term sheet (we target 24 hours), valuation, documents, then drawdown typically in two to three weeks. Urgent files can complete inside 7 days.

None of that is a promise of approval. Terms remain indicative and subject to valuation and due diligence.

When a bridge is the wrong tool

A bridge is the right tool when you have a dated exit: a sale, a refinance, or funds that are clearing. It fits where you need to complete against Singapore property, with drawdown typically in 2–3 weeks. It is the wrong tool if the exit is a hope, if you need a ten-year mortgage, or if you are not an accredited investor or a corporate.

The main risk is tenor. These facilities run 3–24 months. If the sale slips or the refinance is refused, you are still on the clock, and the cost is typically higher than a bank mortgage. That is the trade for speed and for not sitting inside TDSR.

We have used this structure on tight completions, including a Sentosa purchase. If your facts look nothing like that, do not force the product.

In short

The shortlist is a diligence exercise, not a beauty contest. Name the entity, the charge, the exit, and the fees. If a firm cannot put that in writing, it is not a lender you can complete with.