The current controversy over the tax affairs of wealthy celebrities in the United Kingdom has cast an unwelcome spotlight onto offshore territories like Guernsey and Jersey, and has led some to suggest that the offshore trust, at least as far as these jurisdictions are concerned, has had its day, with David Cameron’s coalition government expected to fire a new volley of anti-avoidance legislation in their direction. Leading political and finance industry figures in the islands, however, beg to differ. Continue
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Singapore is not thought of as one of the world’s leading trust jurisdictions. But with its wealth management industry booming, and with trust business a key pillar of this sector, the city-state is rapidly becoming a favoured jurisdiction in which to form a trust, thanks to its favourable tax laws, strong confidentiality laws and reform of trust legislation in 2004. Continue
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Last month, the European Commission formally requested that the government of the United Kingdom change two pieces of anti-avoidance legislation deemed incompatible with European Union law, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for investors and businesses who use foreign companies and other offshore structures to achieve tax optimization. Continue
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