First Abu Dhabi Bank faces insolvency risk over 60 London properties linked to MFS collapse

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
First Abu Dhabi Bank insolvency risk

Highlights

First Abu Dhabi Bank’s Swiss unit faces insolvency risk after 60 London property companies owned by Khemanand Hurhangee file to appoint administrators.
FAB refinances MFS loans on 26 of the 60 properties, lending to all between July 2025 and February, as property-linked administration filings accelerate.
Collapse of Market Financial Solutions and fallout from £1.3bn misappropriation allegations trigger spike in insolvency rates and creditors lose direct claims on affected properties.

London property loans and administrator filings

As first reported by the Financial Times, 60 property companies owned by accountant Khemanand Hurhangee file notices of intention to appoint administrators at London’s High Court, creating potential complications for First Abu Dhabi Bank after its Swiss unit lent against the assets.

CREFi data show the bank financed the 60 properties in the past year. The homes were originally bought with mortgages from lending vehicles controlled by Paresh Raja, the owner of collapsed bridging lender Market Financial Solutions, who is facing a lawsuit from MFS administrators over allegations he misappropriated £1.3bn to fund a lavish lifestyle.

In that lawsuit, the administrators allege Hurhangee and four other individuals listed as shareholders behind a £950mn property portfolio financed by MFS held their stakes on Raja’s behalf. Hurhangee is a director of Magus Chartered Accountants, which helped MFS prepare its financial statements.

The administrators also argue it is not plausible that Hurhangee and the other individuals are the true beneficial owners of the properties, citing his role at a small accountancy firm and the lack of any apparent independent source of wealth consistent with such a large portfolio. FAB and Raja decline to comment, while Magus does not respond to a request for comment.

Refinancing timeline and wider insolvency fallout

Dozens of property companies owned by Hurhangee and others allegedly linked to Raja have already fallen into administration, contributing to a sharp increase in the officially reported insolvency rate across England and Wales. Creditors to the collapsed bridging lender no longer have a direct claim on the 60 companies now preparing to appoint administrators, even though many of the properties previously carried MFS-linked loans.

FAB initially provides loans to 32 of the property companies in July 2025, then extends mortgages to the remaining 28 in early February, only weeks before creditors appoint administrators to MFS over alleged evidence of serious irregularities in its financial affairs. At the time of the second batch of loans, MFS bank accounts at Barclays have already been frozen for months because of the British bank’s concerns about the lender.

According to CREFi, FAB directly refinances MFS loans on 26 of the companies, while the remaining properties had either earlier been refinanced by other lenders or had no outstanding mortgages registered at Companies House. FAB holds more than $400bn in assets, is majority owned by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and members of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, and opened a new London branch in Mayfair last year.

Our earlier article on the UK Treasury’s proposed ring-fencing reforms examined the claim that easing the rules could support up to £80bn of additional bank lending. We noted that this figure is largely a theoretical capacity estimate based on a modest uplift in permitted risk-weighted assets, while actual credit growth still depends on borrower demand, pricing and wider market conditions.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.