Under discussion the creation of a  BO register in Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands government has proposed to set-up a beneficial ownership register which will replace the current system used by companies to register their controlling persons. Since 2017, Cayman Islands have required companies to keep records of their beneficial owners and make them available...Read More

FINMA encourages trustees and portfolio managers to submit licence applications as soon as possible The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority revealed that as of today only 180 out of around 2,400 portfolio managers and trustees have submitted a licence application required by the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), which entered into force in January 2020. The...Read More

Abusive trust arrangements targeted by Australian Authorities After collecting more than AUD 22.9 billion in liabilities against multinationals, wealthy individuals, trusts and public groups, the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO’s) tax avoidance taskforce aims to focus on ‘abusive trust arrangements’ and their promoters. Specifically, the agency will tackle HNWI and groups have seeking to exploit tax...Read More

UK’s TRS opens to non-taxable trusts and extends reporting deadline The UK’s Trust Registration Service is now open for non-taxable trusts to register, bringing under its scope all UK express trusts and certain non-UK express trusts, with the exclusion of: a. UK-registered charities; b. will trusts limited to two years; c. life policies; d. trusts...Read More

Non-controlling Jersey settlors will not classify as BOs Following the introduction of the Financial Services (Disclosure and Provision of Information) (Jersey) Law 2020 (Disclosure Law), which came into force in January 2021 and created a beneficial ownership register for certain entities under scope, Jersey recently amended beneficial ownership guidance for companies owned by a trust....Read More