En Voyage_Issue#11_Flickbook
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Trust Corporation International<br />
Staying ahead in an ever<br />
changing world<br />
Offshore structures need to adapt continuously in order to<br />
comply with changes in tax and regulation. It is essential<br />
that trust and corporate services providers keep a close<br />
eye and, importantly, really understand the implications of<br />
these changes so that structures they manage are kept up<br />
to date and compliant in every respect.<br />
Here, three members of Trust Corporation International,<br />
one of Guernsey’s leading independent fiduciary and<br />
corporate services providers, reflect on a few of the many<br />
recent changes that have taken place and also look at<br />
what we know currently lies ahead:<br />
A clear view on transparency<br />
Ivor Bisson, Global Tax Reporting<br />
The recent decision by the UK<br />
Parliament to compel the British<br />
Overseas Territories to adopt public<br />
registers detailing the beneficial<br />
ownership of companies has reignited<br />
the debate on the fundamental right to<br />
privacy and how this should not be<br />
confused with transparency.<br />
It is now clear that the Crown<br />
Dependencies, including Guernsey, are<br />
not affected by this UK decision but this<br />
is an issue which has understandably<br />
moved quickly up the agenda of so<br />
many of our clients.<br />
Guernsey has for many years been at<br />
the forefront in meeting the highest<br />
international transparency obligations<br />
in fighting, in particular financial crime.<br />
Guernsey was an early adopter of the<br />
OECD Common Reporting Standard<br />
(“CRS”) in 2017 and there is now an<br />
annual exchange of information with<br />
authorities outside of Guernsey.<br />
Our clients understand that the value of<br />
their financial assets at the end of each<br />
calendar year (and relevant income<br />
received by them outside of their<br />
country of tax residence) will<br />
automatically be shared with their<br />
home tax authority each year. This is<br />
also an evolving area - for example, a<br />
subtle amendment was made to the<br />
OECD’s guidance in December 2017.<br />
This extended the reporting<br />
requirements for trusts to cover<br />
situations where trustees grant loans<br />
other than on commercial terms. It is<br />
vital that we keep abreast of all of these<br />
changes.<br />
Confidentiality vs transparency - the right balance?<br />
Lydia Essa, Director<br />
Clients fully understand that<br />
information exchange and transparency<br />
are fundamental features of what we<br />
now do and they are generally<br />
accepting of it, but they will not tolerate<br />
leaks of information. They also do not<br />
expect disclosure to be disproportionate<br />
or to undermine their fundamental<br />
human right to privacy.<br />
We already know that a publicly<br />
accessible register of beneficial owners<br />
of UK real estate will be available from<br />
2021 – non-UK trusts may be exempt<br />
from the requirements but this is not yet<br />
clear. Clients continue to be<br />
concerned that the right balance<br />
between confidentiality and<br />
transparency is achieved.<br />
Our role now is to ensure that we have<br />
sufficient in-house expertise to report<br />
information in an accurate, timely<br />
and proportionate way whilst always<br />
ensuring that confidential client<br />
data continues to be held securely<br />
and processed in accordance with<br />
the new Guernsey and EU Data<br />
Protection legislation.<br />
98 <strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong> | Aurigny’s Magazine