Welcome to the first 2025 edition of our Regulatory & Risk Advisory Review. In this instalment, we provide a comprehensive overview of the latest regulatory developments to ensure you have the most up-to-date insights into...more
4/25/2025
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cayman Islands ,
CIMA ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
FATF ,
Fees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Licenses ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
The Cayman Islands is a premier jurisdiction for innovative trust structures, and its STAR trusts have gained prominence for their flexibility and utility in corporate settings. STAR Trusts are a form of trust that is unique...more
The Cayman Islands has long been a leading jurisdiction for wealth management, offering innovative structures that cater to the complex needs of high-net-worth individuals and families. One such structure is the Foundation...more
It has been said that we are in the middle of a multi-trillion dollar transition of family wealth between generations. In order to facilitate that transition, careful planning and management of family wealth and assets need...more
The Perpetuities (Amendment) Act, 2024 (the “Act”) has taken effect in the Cayman Islands, providing for the disapplication of the rule against perpetuities for Cayman Islands ordinary trusts. This legislative development...more
The Cayman Islands is in the process of implementing fundamental changes to its beneficial ownership regime. Most significantly, these include the removal of exemptions applicable under the previous regime, as well as more...more
Despite mounting environmental concerns and political pressure around the use of private jets, the private aviation sector continues to experience strong growth, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. With increasing...more
5/17/2024
/ Asia ,
Aviation Industry ,
Beneficiaries ,
Bermuda ,
Cayman Islands ,
Corporate Structures ,
Middle East ,
Offshore Companies ,
Ownership Interest ,
Registration Requirement ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
Acquiring artworks, antiques, and other collectibles is a common pastime of private clients, for reasons that can vary greatly from profit-making to maintaining cultural ties, or simply as a general reflection of their...more
Recognised as a global leader in private client advice, our Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands (BVI) Private Client & Trust teams have been working with clients in the Middle East for decades. Our experienced team of...more
11/29/2023
/ Aviation Industry ,
British Virgin Islands ,
BVI Business Companies ,
Directors ,
Estate Planning ,
FinTech ,
Philanthropy ,
Private Foundations ,
Private Trust Companies ,
Probate ,
Succession Planning ,
Supervisors ,
Trusts ,
Wealth Management ,
Wills
Many high-net-worth individuals and families use a private trust company (PTC) when looking to structure their family wealth. Given that settlors of trusts are sometimes reluctant to relinquish control over the assets...more
11/9/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Cayman Islands ,
CIMA ,
Companies Act ,
Corporate Management ,
Corporate Structures ,
Philanthropy ,
Private Foundations ,
Private Trust Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Wealth Management
British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) business companies are often used for private wealth structuring purposes. However, where the shares in a BVI business company are registered in the name of an individual rather than a corporate...more
10/20/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
British Virgin Islands ,
Business Formation ,
Business Succession ,
BVI Business Companies ,
Cayman Islands ,
Estate Planning ,
Incorporation ,
Probate ,
Shareholders ,
Succession Planning ,
Trusts ,
Wills
For businesses that are family-owned and run in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan, it is common for beneficial ownership and control of the business enterprise to be vested in the shareholders of a...more
10/9/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
British Virgin Islands ,
Business Entities ,
BVI Business Companies ,
China ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Debt ,
Debtors ,
Estate Planning ,
Holding Companies ,
Hong Kong ,
Incorporation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Privacy Laws ,
Shareholders ,
Taiwan
The Cayman Islands reformed its trust laws to provide a statutory mechanism by which flawed decisions of trustees and other fiduciaries can be set aside on application to the court. The codification of the Hastings‑Bass rule...more
5/10/2023
/ Beneficiaries ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cayman Islands ,
Companies Act ,
EU ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
UK ,
UK Supreme Court
Offshore Trust and Estate Litigation Update Series – Part II -
Following on from Part I of this series which summarised the Cayman Court’s consideration of a trustee’s application for the “blessing” of a “momentous...more
5/1/2023
/ Appeals ,
Beneficiaries ,
British Virgin Islands ,
Cayman Islands ,
Cross-Border ,
Offshore Companies ,
Oral Communications ,
Private Company Shares ,
Res Judicata ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Wills
Offshore Trust and Estate Litigation Update Series – Part I -
Trust and estate disputes in both the Cayman Islands and the BVI, and claims against the actions of a trustee/executor or disputes related to an interested...more
The holding company of many corporate groups trading in Asia is frequently incorporated in an offshore financial centre such as the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”). It is therefore common for high-net-worth individuals...more
In October 2022, the Privy Council delivered its judgment in the Z Trust case of Equity Trust (Jersey) Ltd (Respondent) v Halabi (in his capacity as Executor of the Estate of the late Mdam Intisar Nouri) (Jersey) which was...more
1/3/2023
/ Bermuda ,
British Virgin Islands ,
Cayman Islands ,
Creditors ,
Hong Kong ,
Indemnification ,
Indemnity ,
Insolvency ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
UK Privy Council
Family offices can come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but their overarching function is to serve the needs of a wealthy individual or family group. With increasing diversity in the types of “family offices”, there is...more
Cayman Foundation Companies are booming in popularity. Statistics from the Register of Companies have shown a significant uptick in registrations in recent months.
2021 saw 281 per cent year-on-year growth in the...more
Cayman Islands foundation companies (Cayman Foundations) are increasingly being utilised as popular structuring vehicles in the sector. Although Cayman Foundations may initially have been intended to attract high-net-worth...more
STAR Trusts are a form of trust that is exclusive to the Cayman Islands (Cayman), and which have a wide variety of practical applications. The unique features of a STAR Trust provide clients with structuring options that are...more
11/18/2021
/ Beneficiaries ,
Cayman Islands ,
Commercial Use ,
Duration of Status ,
Duty of Confidentiality ,
Enforcement ,
Family Businesses ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Philanthropy ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
Welcome to the sixth edition of our Private Client Bulletin, bringing you the latest private client and trust news and insights from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, BVI and Asia.
This edition features articles on offshore...more
11/16/2021
/ Asia ,
Beneficiaries ,
Bermuda ,
British Virgin Islands ,
Cayman Islands ,
Divorce ,
Family Trusts ,
Foreign Judgments ,
Joinder ,
Jurisdiction ,
Marital Assets ,
Trust Protector Actions ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
Robert Lindley and Wesley O’Brien provide a step-by-step guide to dealing with missing or uncooperative beneficiaries -
It will be important for the trustee to be capable of demonstrating that it has made sufficient...more
Offshore: What is appropriate?
Robert Lindley and Wesley O’Brien discuss cases where offshore family courts act as auxiliaries to those onshore -
Generally, for a foreign judgment to be capable of enforcement in an...more
10/14/2021
/ Beneficiaries ,
Cayman Islands ,
Divorce ,
Family Law Courts ,
Foreign Judgments ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
International Litigation ,
Joinder ,
Jurisdiction ,
Trust Deeds ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
UK
Legislative amendments to the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) trust legislation took effect on 9 July 2021 under the Trustee (Amendment) Act, 2021. The reforms introduce welcome improvements to the BVI’s Trustee Act and ensure...more