Cross-border transaction supportfrom due diligence to settlement

The basic block: who the actual owner is, whether there are mortgages, attachments or prohibitions on disposal, whether debts follow the property, and whether the physical asset matches the registry record. The extended block: the chain of past transfers, litigation around the asset, construction permits and the legality of alterations, and for new builds — the developer’s standing and track record.

In most of our jurisdictions — yes, by power of attorney. We draft the power of attorney with a precise scope, arrange the apostille and translation, and our lawyer signs on the ground. A personal visit usually remains necessary where the local bank requires opening an account in person — we flag this at the start.

Escrow is an account held by an independent agent: the buyer’s money sits on it and is released to the seller only when agreed conditions are met — for example, after the title transfer is registered. Until then the seller cannot take the money and the buyer cannot pull it back around the contract. This breaks the core risk of any deal — paying before receiving.

Asking is normal; agreeing is not. The working option is a reservation with a refundable deposit: the amount is blocked on agreed terms, and if due diligence finds material defects, the deposit comes back. We put the refund wording into the reservation agreement before anything is paid.

Because the transfer and the passing of title are two independent events, and anything can happen between them: the asset gets attached, the seller changes their mind, the bank freezes the amount in compliance. A direct transfer is appropriate only in structures where the title is already legally protected — and those are the minority. For the rest there are escrow, letters of credit and notary deposits.

It is a standard anti-money-laundering check: the bank must understand where the buyer’s money comes from. We prepare the file in advance: sale of a business or an asset, dividends, savings — every part of the amount is supported by a document. With the file ready before the transfer, the bank’s question takes days, not months.

On the resale market the key question is the cleanliness of an existing title and debts. With a developer the asset does not exist yet, so it is the developer that gets verified: land title, construction permit, the country’s mechanism for protecting buyers’ payments, and the contract under which you pay for something to be built. These are different checks with different documents.

Yes. For the seller we prepare the asset for the buyer’s due diligence, answer their lawyers’ requests, negotiate the contract and structure settlement as a mirror image: title passes only once the money has arrived or is guaranteed. We never act for both sides of the same deal — that is a conflict of interest.

You receive an opinion with options: which defects the seller can cure before the deal, which can be closed by contract terms or a price reduction, and where it is wiser not to proceed. The decision is always yours — our job is to make it an informed one.

A second layer of verification is added: the asset and the purchase form must meet the program conditions — the minimum amount, the asset type, the holding period, the payment requirements. A mistake on this layer is expensive: the deal is lawful, yet the application for status fails. We run both layers in parallel.

It depends on the deal country, the seller’s bank and your bank. At the start we verify the entire payment chain: whether the transfer will go through, what documents the banks will request, whether conversion is needed and where it is cheaper. The answer is fixed before signing, so the payment does not hang mid-deal.

Each country has its own set: transfer taxes and duties, stamp fees, possible capital gains tax for the seller, and annual taxes for the owner after the purchase. Before the deal we show the full list for your jurisdiction and include it in the deal budget — no "surprises after the notary".

Due diligence usually takes one to three weeks, the contract and settlement preparation another one or two, after which the timing belongs to the bank and the registrar. A realistic range for a typical property purchase is one to three months from reservation to title registration. The exact calendar is built for your deal.

Yes, at any stage: before the contract is signed, before the payment, or when a dispute with the other side has started. The earlier the better: after signing, only the terms the other side agrees to change can be changed.

Send us the basics: what the asset is, in which country, at what stage the negotiations are and which documents you already have. The initial review is done before any engagement contract — you receive the list of risks and a fee quote, then you decide.