
Trust & company
Private client services
Guernsey providers have the depth of technical expertise to identify and create the optimum solution for their client’s needs, whether that be asset protection, estate or succession planning.
A broad range of vehicles are available to practitioners which allow them to support personal, family, commercial and charitable interests.
These range from offshore trusts and underlying company structures for UK families, to high value and more complex structures involving trusts, companies, limited partnerships and foundations for international high net worth families.
A trust is the name given to the arrangement that allows a third party, or trustee, to hold assets on behalf of one or more beneficiaries or a charitable cause. Trusts are used for a broad range of purposes, including but not limited to:
- Estate planning purposes
- Charitable or non-charitable purposes
- Holding the assets of a pension scheme
- Company restructuring
In 2013, the Guernsey Foundation was introduced.
A foundation is an incorporated entity much like a company. However, unlike a company, a foundation does not have shareholders to whom the board are accountable. Instead, the foundation holds its assets on behalf of beneficiaries, particular purposes, or both. In that respect, a foundation behaves much like a trust.
The Guernsey Foundation includes some unique features related to the role of the founder, the rights of the beneficiaries and confidentiality, which make it more attractive than others already on the market.
Read our brochure to see how the Guernsey Foundation stacks up against other jurisdictions.
A private trust company (PTC) is a privately owned company that acts as a trustee, usually for a family trust or group of trusts. PTCs are often, but by no means exclusively, at the heart of a family office established to run a family's affairs.
The Guernsey Trusts Law enacted in 2008 made several amendments to the island's fiduciary environment, including the abolition of the personal liability of directors in a PTC to encourage greater use of such entities.
Advantages include the fact that the board of a PTC can – subject to tax considerations – often be populated with the right complement of professionals, specialists, family members and friends; it can be changed quickly if necessary without compromising the continuity of the underlying trusteeship or administration. A professional trustee is often appointed to the board for many reasons, not least to discharge the day-to-day administration of running the PTC and its underlying trusts.
With the focus on just one family and often with the involvement of members of the family, the PTC’s greater understanding of the family gives increased assurance to the family that decisions will be made quickly and sensitively to their interests – particularly, for example, in relation to interests held in family businesses etc.
In late 2012 Guernsey introduced the world's first image rights legislation and image rights register. This has opened up a new chapter in asset protection and exploitation management.
The Guernsey image rights legislation addresses the needs of the modern marketplace by allowing a personality to formally register not only images but also other characteristics of themselves. The register has already attracted notable sportspeople, celebrities and corporations.
Our image rights brochure goes into further detail on Guernsey's unique image rights offering.
For more information visit: www.guernseyregistry.com
Guernsey continues to meet the needs of international clients, some of whom have an increasing desire to register their aircraft and indeed place their wider wealth management arrangements in a reputable and reliable domicile where quality service provision is at the fore.
2-REG complements Guernsey's existing expertise gained in banking, insurance wealth management, and other financial services, which can be important in the structuring, financing and holding of an aircraft.
Indeed, in practice many aircraft transactions are one element within more complex private wealth management or corporate arrangements.
An aircraft does not have to be physically present in Guernsey to be entered onto the register provided that the legal and beneficial owners meet the requirements to register. There are three separate registers, one each for aircraft, engines and mortgages.
Our 2-REG brochure goes into further detail on the Guernsey registry offering.
For more information visit: www.2-reg.com.
The term ‘family office’ has become widely used in recent years and refers to the service provided by private firms that manage just about everything for wealthy individuals and their families.
In its simplest form it ranges from standard wealth management functions of investment management, tax and estate planning, to the holistic and hands-on management of clients’ affairs.
Whatever your needs, providers amongst Guernsey’s nearly 150 fiduciaries will have the experience and expertise to assist.