Private Trust Companies: A Handbook for Advisers

Ultra-wealthy families have incorporated private trust companies into their wealth structures with increasing frequency over recent decades. Private trust companies can offer greater control over the administration of the family’s trusts and can provide greater flexibility in the management of the trust’s assets. For many families, a private trust company is a natural complement to the family office, enabling it to include fiduciary services among the services that it provides to its members. Reflecting the rising popularity of private trust companies, more jurisdictions have enacted legislation allowing them.

This handbook is a comprehensive resource for lawyers, accountants, family office executives and any others who advise ultra-wealthy families on private trust companies. Featuring chapters written by leading practitioners, it fully explores the legal, regulatory and practical dimensions of forming and operating a private trust company.

A series of chapters examines the relevant law in prime jurisdictions including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Jersey and key US states. Other chapters focus on organisational and operational issues, such as designing a private trust company’s ownership structure, implementing proper internal controls, outsourcing services and working with professional advisers. Important matters like coordinating with the family office, communicating with family, protecting privacy and handling disputes involving private trust companies are also covered.

Contributors include practitioners from Appleby, Bedell Cristin, Carey Olsen, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Holland & Knight, McDermott Will & Emery, Meritus Trust Company, South Dakota Trust Company, Squire Patton Boggs, and Walkers.