It also provides loans to clients buying properties in Singapore and Portugal.

Hill Samuel has emerged as a dominant force in the overseas mortgage lending market since it focused on private banking in 1987.

The bank was able to grow into the biggest lender of overseas mortgages by appealing to the ''emerging rich'' in Hong Kong. This group made up a larger segment of the population than the ''already rich'', who are targeted by the other lenders, Mr Lea said.

The professionals, businessmen and senior corporate and government executives Hill Samuel served make up 12 per cent to 15 per cent of Hong Kong's population. The wealthiest individuals made up only one to two per cent, he said.

Other clients were drawn to Hill Samuel because the bank offered the chance for effectively full finance for a property under its umbrella fund, he said.

Hill Samuel was the only Hong Kong-based mortgage lender to offer an umbrella loan. The facility is available to clients who had equity in another property, he said.

The mortgage lending service is administered from Hong Kong. This appealed to borrowers looking for efficient service, he said.

The bank had also attracted customers with its aggressive marketing campaign, a move that Mr Lea said was ''unusual for private banks''.

In particular, Mr Lea said, there had been a huge increase in the number of customers wanting to take out mortgages for property in Britain.

Since the beginning of the year, Hill Samuel had taken ''several billion dollars'' of extra business for British properties.

Hong Kong buyers were attracted by the relatively cheap prices compared with those in the territory, he said. A prime residential property in London might cost a quarter of the price of a similar home in Hong Kong, he said.

There was also a desire among Hong Kong people to ''direct wealth overseas'' because of the impending change in sovereignty in 1997, he said.

Hill Samuel advances a minimum of $500,000 to its clients.

It provides loans for 75 per cent of the purchase price or valuation, whichever is the lower.

The exception is Portugal. For properties there, the bank will lend 60 per cent of the cost.

''One of the most important features of our loan facility is the ability to change the currency of the loan,'' Mr Lea said.

Borrowers can take out loans in either Hong Kong or United States dollars, or in the currency of the country in which they are buying the property.

Hill Samuel generally requires borrowers to set up a regular repayment schedule.

Loans can be repaid in four ways: in equal instalments of principal and interest; in an interest only plus savings plan; interest only plus endowment life assurance policy; or an interest only plus pension plan.

Interest on loans of more than $1 million is charged at 1.5 per cent per year over Hill Samuel's prime lending rate.