Risk & Due Diligence
The checks that protect capital — title, developer, structure, and exit — before you commit to a Cambodian purchase.
All risk & due diligence research
Newest first — every piece sourced and dated.
Cambodia's Banks Got Four New Rankings in One Week. Here's What Each One Actually Measures
Forbes' debut global bank ranking placed ABA 31st and ACLEDA 107th, Euromoney named Wing best digital bank, and a new Andersen Consulting platform started cohort-ranking every bank under $1bn. What each one measures — and what none of them tells a depositor.
The Black Economy Leaves the Building: What the Scam Crackdown Is Doing to Border-Town Property
Scam operators and their workers are leaving Cambodia's border towns, and hospitality, food, transport and rental demand is going with them. Poipet is taking the Thai border closure too. What the crackdown now means for Bavet, Chrey Thom, Poipet and Sihanoukville property.
Cambodia's Digital Divide: What Connectivity Gaps Mean for Frontier Property Due Diligence
A civil-society survey put numbers on Cambodia's internet and electricity access gaps in remote provinces. What that means for anyone underwriting frontier land against connectivity-dependent uses.
CamDX: Who Actually Approves a Borey or Condo in Cambodia
Cambodia has moved borey and condo approvals onto a single digital window, CamDX, spanning seven ministries. What an approval on it proves, what it does not, and which ministry's sign-off actually gates which risk for a buyer.
Cambodia's Power Grid Is Racing Its Own Industrial Pipeline — A Due-Diligence Read
EDC's four days of scheduled Phnom Penh outages this month are a symptom, not the story. Installed capacity and peak demand are both growing near-20% a year — a due-diligence read for anyone underwriting industrial land against grid reliability.
When a Borey Developer Collapses: Leng Navatra, the 6A Buyers, and the State's Asset Takeover
A tycoon's public offer to hand family assets to the state over a stalled Phnom Penh borey project — what a developer collapse and asset handover actually teach buyers about pre-sale risk.
What an $80M Sihanoukville Deal Gone to Court Teaches Property Buyers
A court-ordered freeze on 91 titles and a 99% bank shareholding traces to a $59M unpaid balance on Sihanoukville's Blue Bay project — the mechanics of post-dated cheques, provisional seizure, and title-transfer risk.
Cambodia's RPR Moves Toward Monthly E-Filing for Real Estate Firms
The Real Estate Business and Pawnshop Regulator consulted 140 developers and agencies on a new monthly e-filed reporting system. No format or timeline yet — but it's the first move toward official, recurring market data in a sector that has none.
ABC's 2026 Banking Priorities: What ''Realistic Asset Valuation'' Signals for Property Lending
The Association of Banks in Cambodia set three sector priorities at its August 2026 conference. One line — realistic asset valuation and NPL resolution — reads directly onto the property-collateral problem this platform has tracked all year.
Cambodia's Bank NPLs, Benchmarked: What Moody's Regional Comparison Adds to the Property-Risk Picture
Moody's put a number on how Cambodia's 9.6% NPL ratio compares to its neighbours — and it's the highest in the region by a wide margin. What the new regional data, a five-year trend line, and two unreconciled figures add to this platform's banking-risk series.
NBC Liquidates Three More Banks — Five Confirmed Failures Since January, a Week After Calling the System "Resilient"
CCU Commercial Bank, Heng Feng, and HH Bank lost their licences on 3 August — six days after the NBC called the banking system resilient. What five confirmed liquidations since January mean for anyone with a mortgage, deposit, or developer loan at a smaller Cambodian bank.
Singapore's Envoy Says Cambodia Is Safer for Investors — Reading a Courtesy Call Against the Property Numbers
Singapore's ambassador credited Cambodia's scam crackdown for improving investor confidence at a courtesy call with the Phnom Penh Governor. No mechanism, no figures — but real Singaporean capital already sits in Cambodian property. What the softest signal tells buyers.
Where Cambodia's $682M in Escrow Money Actually Sits — A Provincial Map
The Trust Regulator's first detailed provincial breakdown shows Phnom Penh holding 60% of all escrow trust assets, Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri at zero. What the geography of regulated fund-holding tells buyers about where formal transaction infrastructure actually exists.
APD Bank's Withdrawal Cap Isn't Sudden — It's the Fourth Public Statement Since March
Appointment-only withdrawals and a $20,000 cap follow a March denial of NBC licence-revocation rumours, a chairman's "funds remain safe" statement, and an April "operations continue as normal" notice. What four months of reassurance followed by restriction actually tells you.
Cambodia's FX Reserves Fell 8.1% — But This Is Not the AMRO Liquidity Story
The NBC reports international reserves down to $25.3B, still covering eight months of imports. Distinguishing the central bank's own reserve buffer from the commercial-bank liquidity warning AMRO issued two days earlier — and what each actually means for property.
AMRO Warns Cambodia Banks' Dollar Liquidity at Record Low — What It Means for Property Financing
The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office reports Cambodian banks' USD liquidity at NBC fell to 10.4% of deposits — a record low, with $10.5B shifted offshore. Direct read-through for property lending, developer financing, and buyer due diligence.
NBC H1 2026 — Banking Resilience Tested as Property NPLs Climb to 9.6%
Cambodia's central bank reports NPLs at 9.6% — up from 8.4% — with $4.8B in restructured loans and construction/real estate flagged as a slow-recovery area. Clear banking-sector pressure signals for property buyers.
AMRO Stress Test: Cambodia's Banks Could Absorb 24% NPLs — But Property Exposure Is the Weak Spot
AMRO's reverse stress test finds Cambodia's banking system can withstand NPL ratios of up to 24%, but the sector-level result masks acute concentration risk in property, construction, and residential mortgage lending — and growing pressure on smaller lenders.
The IMF's Other Warning: What the End of Bank "Forbearance" Means for Property Financing
Buried in the same July 2026 Article IV mission that cut Cambodia's growth forecast is a narrower, more technical warning: bank asset quality is about to become more visible as regulatory forbearance ends. What that means for developer financing and mortgage buyers.
Cambodia's First Developer IPO Is Selling an 8% "Guaranteed" Dividend
Borey Vimean Samnang is about to become the first residential developer listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange, pitching an 8% annual dividend guaranteed for five years. What actually funds that promise, and why this isn't the REIT the market was waiting for.
Cambodia Approved 13 Eurocodes This Month. It Still Has No Mandatory Building Code
In July 2026 Cambodia formally adopted 13 European structural-design standards as national standards — real, multi-year progress. But a national standard is not a legal requirement, and the country still has no mandatory building code an inspector can hold a builder to.
A 297-Metre Tower Just Broke Ground in BKK1. The Developer Has Never Finished One in Cambodia
G.A.T.O Tower would be Cambodia's second-tallest building on delivery. Its developer, Miraku Capital, has no prior completed project in the country. What the groundbreaking actually proves, and what it doesn't.
Prince, Panda, and H-Pay: What Three Linked Failures Reveal About Banking Risk in Cambodia
Two commercial banks and a payment provider have been put into liquidation in Cambodia since January 2026 — and they trace back to the same network. What that means for anyone banking, wiring funds, or holding a deposit or escrow balance in the country.
Cambodia Cleared 75,000 Hectares of Landmines in Six Months. What That Means for Land Diligence
CMAC cleared 75,132 hectares of contaminated land in H1 2026, concentrated in six border provinces. A sober look at what 'cleared' actually means for anyone evaluating rural or border-province land, and what to verify before you buy.
China Offers Cambodia a Security Partnership — and Names the Scam Economy as Why
At their June 26 Beijing meeting, Xi Jinping proposed a formal security partnership with Cambodia and called telecom fraud a 'tumour' to root out together. What that signals for the risk premium on border-town casino and SEZ property.
The Pig Farm Next Door: What a Kampot Enforcement Case Reveals About Rural Land Due Diligence
Two unpermitted pig farms in Kampot got caught dumping wastewater on rice fields. The case is small, but it's a rare, concrete look at how Cambodia's 2023 Environmental Code actually gets enforced — and what that means for anyone buying rural or peri-urban land.
Trump's Cambodia Ambassador Nominee and What Scam-Center Sanctions Mean for Investors
Christopher Anderson told the Senate his top priority in Phnom Penh is dismantling scam centers, many of which run out of sanctioned casino and resort real estate. What a filled ambassador post and an active OFAC list mean for anyone underwriting Cambodian property.
Fire Safety in Phnom Penh’s High-Rises: What Foreign Condo Buyers Should Actually Check
A top-floor fire at a 45-storey Phnom Penh condo ended without casualties — this time. Cambodia has had a national fire-safety code since 2019, but the gap between code and the tower you buy into is where the risk lives. The checklist no agent will hand you.
Cambodia's Riverbank Planning Shift: What Devolved Waterfront Rules Mean for Buyers
Cambodia is pushing riverbank planning and land demarcation down to provincial committees and inviting waterfront owners into erosion-prevention schemes. For riverside property, local autonomy is both an opportunity and a new layer of risk — a due-diligence read.
Condo Handover in Cambodia: The Snagging Checklist and the Warranties the Law Gives You
Cambodia's Construction Law hands every buyer statutory defect warranties — 2 years on systems, 5 on the envelope, 10 on structure — that no contract can shorten. The handover guide: when to inspect, what to test, what to withhold, and the paperwork to demand before you sign.
Political and Expropriation Risk in Cambodian Property: What a Title Can — and Cannot — Protect
Cambodia's written law promises fair-market compensation paid in advance before any taking. Boeung Kak, two million hectares of concessions, and a lake whose legal boundary moved 55 times say the written law is not the whole story. How to read the risk and position around it.
When a Cambodian Property Deal Goes Wrong: Courts, Arbitration, and Real Leverage
Cambodia has no commercial court in operation, won't enforce your home country's judgments, and routes unregistered-land fights through an administrative maze — yet arbitration awards travel to 160+ countries. The honest recourse map, and why leverage beats litigation.
Buying a Resale Condo in Cambodia: The Second-Owner Checklist
Resale removes completion risk — and adds a different inspection list: the building’s real occupancy, the foreign quota’s current position, service-charge arrears, the sinking fund, and a title that must be re-verified, not inherited.
Guaranteed Rental Returns in Cambodia: What the Guarantee Is Actually Worth
The “8–12% guaranteed for five years” pitch is everywhere in Cambodian off-plan sales. Here is what underwrites that promise, how it is priced into your purchase, and the questions that make it collapse or hold up.
How to Verify a Cambodian Land Title in 2026: QR Checks, Cadastral Searches, and What Each Proves
Title verification in Cambodia has never been easier — or more necessary. The verify.gov.kh QR check, the cadastral burdens search, what each one proves and doesn’t, and the verification sequence to run before any money moves.
How to Read a Cambodian Sale-and-Purchase Agreement Before You Sign
The SPA is where Cambodian property deals are actually won or lost — payment schedules, deposits, penalty clauses, handover triggers, and the escrow question. A clause-by-clause guide for foreign buyers.
The First-Time Buyer’s Guide to Cambodian Property
A practical, risk-first roadmap for foreigners buying property in Cambodia for the first time — what you can own, how to choose a market, get the structure right, fund it, run the diligence, and plan the exit. The honest version, with links to the detail at each step.
Cambodia Property Red Flags: The Warning-Sign Checklist
The specific warning signs that should make you slow down, dig deeper, or walk away from a Cambodian property deal — across title, the seller, the structure, the money, and the sales pressure itself.
Off-plan vs Resale: Which Buying Route Is Right for You in Cambodia?
Two ways into Cambodian property: buy off-plan from a developer before it’s built, or buy a completed unit on the resale market. One trades price and choice for completion risk; the other trades certainty for a higher price. A head-to-head to match the route to the buyer.
Property Management in Cambodia: A Guide for Absentee Foreign Owners
Buying is half the job; managing the property — usually from abroad — is the other half. What property management covers, what it costs, how to choose a manager, and the absentee-owner risks that quietly erode a Cambodian property return.
Selling Cambodian Property: An Exit Guide for Foreign Owners
The exit is the hardest part of a Cambodian purchase and the least planned. Who you can actually sell to, how your holding structure and the building’s foreign quota shape liquidity, the costs and tax on a sale, and why you should plan the exit before you buy.
The Best Property Developers in Cambodia? How to Actually Judge One
There is no honest, fixed “best developers in Cambodia” list — reputations move and most rankings are paid placement. Here is the independent way to judge a developer: the track-record checks, the green flags, the red flags, and where to start.
Is Cambodia a Tax Haven? A Sober Answer
Being outside the CRS is not the same as being a tax haven. Cambodia levies real taxes, the biggest non-CRS country in the world is the United States, and none of it removes your duty to declare. A myth-busting look at a common misconception.
How to Vet a Cambodian Property Developer Before You Buy Off-Plan
Off-plan in Cambodia means trusting a developer to deliver years from now. Track record, permits, the land title under the project, and escrow are the checks that separate a safe purchase from a lost deposit.
FATF, AML, and CRS: Making Sense of Cambodia’s Financial-Regulatory Landscape
Cambodia left the FATF grey list in 2023 but remains outside the CRS. These are different frameworks measuring different things. What each one means for a foreign property buyer, and where the real risks sit.
Property Insurance in Cambodia: What's Insurable, What the Law Expects, and What to Buy
Nothing forces a Cambodian homeowner to insure — but the Construction Law makes owners jointly liable for occupancy defects, floods are a named peril, and premiums below $50M follow a tariff. What the young insurance market actually sells, and how a foreign owner should buy it.
Flood and Climate Risk in Cambodian Property Due Diligence: The Check Nobody Runs
Phnom Penh carries a "High" flood classification — damaging floods expected within any ten-year hold — while the lakes that drained the city are filled for the towers sold on them. How to read elevation, infill history, and drainage before the wet season does it for you.
The Pre-Purchase Due Diligence Checklist for Cambodia
The specific checks that separate a defensible Cambodian property purchase from an expensive lesson — title verification at the cadastral office, the 70% foreign quota, developer licences, and exit costs. Sourced and cited.
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