Private trust companies

Confidentiality.
Control.
Ease.

We can establish and administer a private trust company (PTC) to act as trustee to any trusts, structures or special purpose vehicles you have in place. PTCs offer confidentiality, succession planning and greater levels of control and can be tailored to your specific requirements.

Why choose a private trust company?

PTCs are privately owned companies incorporated specifically to act as trustees of one or more family trusts or structures. Like any other company, a private trust company is run by its board of directors, who make trustee decisions.

Our highly respected private client team has a wealth of technical expertise in creating PTCs. We can help you understand the benefits and whether it is the right planning solution for you.

While run by the board of directors, private trust companies (and the underlying trusts for which they act as trustee) are usually administered by a professional trustee experienced in carrying out trust and corporate administration.

We’re seeing a growing trend in the use of private trust company structures by clients and their advisers who are seeking flexibility and wish to retain a measure of control.

The board of directors of the PTC generally include family members who can ensure that the wishes of the founder of the trust (often the patriarch and/or matriarch of the family) are given proper consideration and to enable them to make decisions affecting family assets, which may include family business interests.

In circumstances where it is impractical or undesirable for family members to be in direct control of the private trust company, trusted advisers of the settlor can be appointed to the board, as can a director from our professional team.

You, your family members and trusted advisers can sit on the board of directors. This gives you a greater degree of control over trust affairs without compromising the validity of the trusts.

PTCs can provide you with an additional measure of confidentiality, and the comfort that a robust corporate governance approach will be observed with a trusted partner that is both regulated and based in a politically stable country.

With a PTC it isn’t necessary to change the trustee or transfer the title of trust assets when the registered service provider is changed. This avoids the requirement for legal deeds, indemnities and other documentation. All that is required is the resignation and appointment of new directors, and notification of the new registered person responsible for the administration of the PTC to the local registry. This also makes it easier to migrate PTCs to a different jurisdiction, such as from Cayman to Jersey.

An important benefit of a PTC is the ability to react quickly to changing circumstances. This is particularly relevant where a family trust owns the shares of an active trading company. Decisions often need to be taken quickly and the board of a PTC will typically be more familiar with the transactions of the underlying company than a corporate trustee, and therefore more capable of reacting quickly.