Welcome to Herbert Smith Freehills’ new monthly private wealth industry updates in Asia. Every month we survey ten Asian jurisdictions for legal developments concerning trust and estate planning which are of interest to the private wealth industry, and provide a succinct summary in a table format.  The jurisdictions covered in the update are Hong Kong, … Read more

The UK Supreme Court has held that members of charitable companies have fiduciary duties and that the court has jurisdiction to direct members of a charitable company on how to exercise their powers: Lehtimäki and others (Respondents) v Cooper (Appellant) [2020] UKSC 33. We consider the judgment and its implications for charitable companies below. Background … Read more

Welcome to Herbert Smith Freehills’ new monthly private wealth industry updates in Asia. Every month we survey ten Asian jurisdictions for legal developments concerning trust and estate planning which are of interest to the private wealth industry, and provide a succinct summary in a table format.  The jurisdictions covered in the update are Hong Kong, … Read more

Welcome to Herbert Smith Freehills’ new monthly private wealth industry updates in Asia. Every month we survey ten Asian jurisdictions for legal developments concerning trust and estate planning which are of interest to the private wealth industry, and provide a succinct summary in a table format.  The jurisdictions covered in the update are Hong Kong, … Read more

The multiplicity of laws to be complied with if trust and company service providers (TCSPs) operate in various jurisdictions, and the ever-changing regulatory landscape more generally can make it difficult for TCSPs to navigate and keep on top of their regulatory compliance obligations. Consistent with this, a clear majority of survey participants cited “general regulatory … Read more

In Mackay v Wesley [2020] EWHC 1215 (Ch), the Claimant, who was instructed by her father to become a trustee of a family trust as part of a tax scheme, failed to obtain from the High Court (1) an order rescinding her appointment as trustee and/or (2) a declaration that she never became a trustee.  … Read more

In our penultimate article in our countdown of the most significant risk and compliance issues faced by trust companies, anti-money laundering (AML) is considered the second most significant challenge. Background Money laundering and terrorist financing risk has been a key area of focus for regulators across the globe for some years – and this trend … Read more