It has been another busy summer for the Fiduciary teams in all four of our offices.

The following projects are some of this summer's highlights:

  • Advising on the establishment of a Guernsey Foundation to act as trustee of multiple family trusts
  • Registering a Guernsey Foundation for a Guernsey Trustee to benefit named charitable beneficiaries in Barbados
  • Assisting in the establishment of a Jersey PTC structure for an Indian-based family
  • Advising on the Jersey and Guernsey legal aspects of a pan-Channel Island final salary pension scheme in connection with a proposal put forward by the employer to introduce a change to the scheme rules permitting active members to voluntarily opt-out of pensionable service
  • Advising the Trustees of a Jersey Unit Trust structure, the unitholders being general partners of a Jersey limited partnership, in their £165 million syndicate refinancing of a London hotel which included a change of trustees and mezzanine financing to Luxembourg companies forming part of the group structure
  • Acting for a private bank in connection with a £40m loan to an Abu Dhabi family to be secured over a substantial residential property in central London, and　
  • Advising two generations of a Dubai-based family in connection with the structuring of onshore residential Dubai real estate using a Guernsey Trust structure

Keeping with the Middle Eastern theme, Angela Calnan is heading over to Dubai again in November to speak at the Opal Family Office Conference on 3 November and the IBC Private Wealth Conference on 5 November.　 

Ed Stone has also been invited by IBC to speak again at several conferences in London in the coming months - namely UK Landscape for Non-Dom Property Investment on 25 September and Stress-Testing Trust Structures on 14 October. For more information about these conferences, please click on the links above or call Ed on 0203 008 7222.

London also sees the STEP Private Client Awards later this month at the Hilton Park Lane on Wednesday 17 September - Ed and Angela very much look forward to seeing you there.

In addition, we are pleased to announce our nomination for Citywealth Law Firm of the Year in both Guernsey and Jersey - an award that we were delighted to win last year. If you would still like to vote for us, it isn't too late!

Read on for commentary on a recent Jersey case involving Unit Trusts from David Dorgan. Angela and Bethan Boscher also look at a very recent and interesting case that has been before the Guernsey Court of Appeal concerning disclosure orders against beneficiaries. 

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER; INFORMATION IS LIBERATING - WITH HELP FROM THE GUERNSEY COURT

In a recent interesting decision from the Guernsey Court of Appeal, the Guernsey Court has confirmed that, in rare circumstances, it is appropriate for trustees to demand information from beneficiaries in order for the trustees to be able to administer a trust in an equitable manner.

Read Angela and Bethan article Knowledge is Power; Information is Liberating - with help from the Guernsey Court

A RARE EXAMPLE OF A COURT EXPLORING THE NATURE OF UNIT TRUSTS

If you are a trustee, manager or unitholder involved with a unit trust structure, David Dorgan explains  the legal nature of a unit trust. This article will assist you to fully appreciate the rights and obligations involved between the parties and that a manager can be considered a trustee for liability purposes.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.