In order to comply with the regulatory regime, we would expect trust company businesses to consider the following as a minimum:-

1. any scheme established to mitigate tax or for any other fiscal reasons should be supported by a formal documented opinion or advice obtained from a credible, expert source;
2. the trust company business undertaking the administration should obtain a copy of the opinion in order to ensure it has a complete conceptual and operational understanding of the scheme;
3. the scheme must be administered in accordance with the supporting opinion and should be reviewed regularly to ensure it remains viable and legitimate;
4. where relevant the scheme should be declared to the appropriate tax authorities;
5. the risk assessments of customer structures should take into account the risk of associated schemes;
6. the trust company business should identify, document and manage any conflicts of interest or other management issues arising from any schemes. For example, the authors and promoters of some schemes are incentivised by way of sales commissions and so there may be an increased risk of misselling; and
7. where a significant element of a trust company’s business derives from these schemes, it should consider any resulting dependency and assess the potential impact on the business in the event of changes to the relevant tax legislation.  Please see attached letter in link below

jfsc dear ceo re tax