Wealth Talks

Family Office Fraud

I’m delighted to invite you to join the next episode of Wealth Talks.In this episode, I shall be joined by:
David Brownbill KC of XXIV Old Buildings;
Mithun Ghosh COO, Taurus Wealth; and
Stephen Branford, Partner, KPMG
​In this episode, we shall discuss financial fraud, particularly in the context of continued growth in private equity investments by Single Family Offices.
Mithun will kindly start the discussion with a background to industry financial fraud risk management strategies undertaken by multi-family offices, EAMs and private banks, and will highlight the practical approach taken by Taurus Wealth when introducing direct investments to clients.
​Stephen will then be invited to discuss best practice financial due diligence when considering direct equity and indirect fund investments and will share some red flag indicators of possible financial fraud, particularly when considering the financial records and accounts of a target company or fund.
​David and I will end the session with a discussion of the legal fallout when financial fraud is discovered, we will consider typical insolvency remedies, the position of directors of insolvent companies and funds, and possible causes of action against auditors, private banks and regulatory bodies, we shall also consider the difficult position of investors that may be subject to clawback claims for funds previously received from an investment fund that is later found to be a Ponzi Scheme.
As with all Wealth Talks, the session will close with a summary of best practice guidance and an opportunity to ask the panel questions.
 

Family Office Dispute

In this episode I shall once again be joined by David Brownbill QC of XXIV Old Buildings.David is a leading Queens Counsel and has been involved in some of the most prominent recent international trust cases, including the Privy Council decisions in Schmidt vs. Rosewood and Crociani vs. Crociani.David and I will discuss Family Office Disputes.Two related aspects will be considered: (a) best practice governance safeguards and precautions to avoid internal Family Office disputes, and (b) where a dispute does occur, best practice dispute management processes and procedures.We shall evaluate both an "Unstructured Family Office", where the family retain direct personal share ownership of the Family Office, and a "Structured Family Office" where the Family Office is held by a trust.When considering an Unstructured Family Office, we shall evaluate the principal governance and dispute management tools available: (a) Shareholders Agreement, and (b) Share Class Rights or Article Amendments. We shall evaluate the pros and cons of each option, and how they may be made to work together.When considering a Structured Family Office, we shall evaluate the options available to a settlor in designing the governance framework of a Family Office Trust, and will critically examine use of the following dispute management tools and/or remedies in the context of a trust:(a) Arbitration Clause(b) Exclusive Jurisdiction Clause(c) No Contest (Sinatra) Clause(d) Restricted Rights of Access to Information(e) Bartlett Clause(f) Trustee RemovalWe shall end the talk with a summary of best practice guidance in the creation and administration of a suitable Family Office governance framework that will help to ensure the long term success of the Family Office.

Family Office Trust

In this episode, I shall be joined by David Brownbill QC of XXIV Old Buildings.
As some of you may know, David is a leading Queens Counsel and has been involved in some of the most prominent recent international trust cases, including the Privy Council decisions in Schmidt vs. Rosewood and Crociani vs. Crociani.
David and I will discuss and evaluate the Family Office Trust.
The question that David and I will answer is whether excessive reservation of powers under the trust to either the settlor or protector may ultimately invalidate the trust? The implications of the recent UK Privy Council decision in Webb vs. Webb [2020] UKPC 22, along with a series of supporting cases including “TMSF” “Pugachev” and “Dua” will be discussed in detail.
The trust laws of Singapore and Hong Kong will be considered, in light of those recent decisions, with potential risks highlighted and discussed.
The talk will end with a practical assessment of steps that may be taken in order to protect the integrity of a Family Office Trust, including:
(a) best practice trust drafting amendments;
(b) use of private trust companies;
(c) use of offshore trust laws, including Jersey, Guernsey, Cayman and BVI.
Demand for Family Office Trusts, containing complex co-governance powers and provisions can be expected to grow, it is therefore imperative that professionals involved in providing trust solutions understand the dangers and limits of reserving excessive powers to either the settlor and/or protector and the practical steps that may be taken in order to protect the integrity of the trust.

Family Office Privacy

In this Virtual Round Table, Family Office Privacy will be considered in light of recent international developments aimed at achieving greater levels of disclosure and transparency of internationally held private wealth.The following key initiatives will be considered in detail, applied to a hypothetical multi-jurisdiction Single Family Office:(a) Public Beneficial Ownership Registers;(b) Opaque Offshore Structures;(c) Mandatory Disclosure Rules;(d) Economic Substances Rules;(e) Common Reporting Standard (CRS);(f) Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).Developments in the principal offshore and investment jurisdictions will be taken into account, including:(a) Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands;(b) Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man;(c) United States of America;(d) European Union; and(e) United Kingdom.The webinar will concentrate on the practical impact of recent developments, what professional advisors and wealth planners will need to take into account in advising family office clients, legitimate steps that may be taken to protect the privacy and security of at risk clients and the long term implications to the international private wealth industry.Specific cyber security risks will also be discussed, highlighting areas of increased vulnerability and steps that can be taken to enhance family office cyber security.I'm very grateful to be joined by:Nancy Chien, Partner, Head of International Private Client, Bedell Cristin, JerseyAki Corsoni-Husain, Partner, Head Global Tax and Regulatory Department, Harneys, CyprusJohn Shoemaker, US Counsel, Butler Snow, SingaporeSteve Sokic, Group Head of Private Wealth, IQEQ, UKAndrew Ho, Head of Private Wealth, IQEQ, SingaporePaul Jackson, Regional Managing Director, Cyber Security & Investigations, Kroll, Hong KongGerallt Owen, Managing Director, Cyber Risk, Kroll, Singapore
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Webinar audio recording dated 2 March 2022. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 

PPLI vs. Family Office

In this episode, two popular private client solutions: PPLI Insurance and Single Family Office, will be pitted against each other to discover which provides the better solution, or whether each is better combined with the other?
The podcast will concentrate on the practical aspects of advising in relation to each, adopting a real-world assessment process, answering typical client queries such as:
Costs | Tax Advantages;Asset Restrictions;Control;Privacy;Immigration;Asset Protection;Reversibility; andSuccession.
Each of the above will be assessed and compared, illustrated by use of hypothetical case studies involving on the one hand a large Indonesia Family with multiple generations and branches, and on the other a young Mainland Chinese Family comprised of Husband, Wife and one Child.
The session will conclude with an assessment of each solution in combination, comprising:
Family Office holding a PPLI policy;PPLI policy holding a Family Office.
Advantages and disadvantages of each combination will be discussed and explained.
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Webinar audio recording dated 27 Jan 2022. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 

PPLI vs. Trusts

The panelists will discuss: 
(a) Core features of a policy and trust, including explanation of terms such a “cash value”, “insurable interest”, “policy distribution” and related trust terms such as “fiduciary office” “fiduciary obligation” and “reserved powers”;
(b) Lifecycle differences in settling a trust and subscribing to a policy will also be compared, using the case of a transfer of shares in a company (in specie subscription);
(c) Lifecycle differences in the administration of a trust and policy will be compared, split into:
    (i) Control: methods to retain control under a trust compared to a policy, particularly in relation to governance and control of an underlying company;
   (ii) Benefit: methods to extract benefits from a trust compared to a policy, including a discussion of policy holder redemptions and policy beneficiary distributions;  
   (iii) Asset Protection: asset protection attributes of a trust and policy compared, particularly in relation to succession, divorce, community property and creditor claims; 
   (iv) Taxation: tax treatment of a trust and policy compared, with recent changes to Indonesia tax law used to illustrate; 
   (v) Transparency: financial account reporting (CRS) of a trust and policy during each lifecycle event will also be compared and contrasted.
(d) Termination of a trust and policy will also be compared, including possible considerations that may arise where a settlor passes away as compared to a policy holder;
(e) Finally, we shall consider combination use of a trust with a PPLI, both in the context of a trust as a policy beneficiary, as well as the case where there is an assignment of a policy into
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Webinar audio recording dated 8 Dec 2020. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 
 

Thailand Regulatory and Tax Update 2021

The industry experts will explain Thailand's adoption and planned implementation of the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), due to commence in January 2022.
The privacy and security implications of the CRS will be discussed, particularly as it relates to financial accounts held in Singapore and Hong Kong by Thai tax resident individuals.
US and Thai financial account reporting under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and related US tax transparency initiatives including the recently enacted US beneficial ownership register will also be explained and discussed.
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Webinar audio recording dated 13 Oct 2021. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 

Trustee Liability

In this podcast, we shall consider the potential liability exposure of Singapore trustees, settlors and protectors.
4 Case Studies will be considered:
1. The first case study will consider whether Singapore trustees, settlors and protectors may validly exclude negligent liability, including “gross” negligence, and whether the settlor of a reserved power trust stands in a fiduciary position;
2. The second case study will consider the effectiveness of a “Bartlett” clause where trustees effectively supervise the activities of underlying companies. The future use of Bartlett clauses will then be considered, particularly in light of recent FATF TCSP guidance;
3. The third case study will consider the liability position of a private trust company (PTC) and its directors, and the basis on which trustee removal proceedings may be brought against a PTC;
4. The fourth and final case study will consider whether a trustee, settlor or protector may rely on a foreign law trust locally administered in Singapore to provide additional liability protection.
We are grateful to be joined by:
Vikna Rajah, Head, Tax, Trust & Private Client, Rajah & Tann
Tan Woon Hum, Partner, Shook Lin & Bok
Zac Lucas, Partner, McCarthy Denning
Yeoh Lian Chuan, Managing Partner, Sabara Law (Deloitte Legal)
Antonio Ribeiro, Partner, Rhone Trustees
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Webinar audio recording dated 8 July 2020. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 

[Governance & Succession 6/6] Single Family Office

The Governance & Succession Series of talks is designed to bring together industry experts to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by business families when considering governance and succession to the family business.
The emergence of the Single Family Office is also explored, along with the need for families as well as business professionals to understand the need for robust family office governance and succession plans.
In this final podcast in the series, we shall consider the challenges faced by families as they seek to establish and integrate their family office operations. We shall discuss best practice structuring options, implications of using a trust structure to hold the family office and the need for robust governance controls in order to ensure the longevity of the family office.
A functional comparison of a traditional family office and a family office utilizing the Variable Capital Company (VCC) legislation will be undertaken including discussion of a suitable trust holding structure where a multigenerational family wish to utilize a VCC for cost and efficiency saving purposes.
We shall invite final comment from Kylie Luo of BDO Tax Advisory on the tax challenges in transferring a family office across generations.
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Webinar audio recording dated 24 Sep 2020. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer 
 

[Governance & Succession 5/6] Malaysia and Thailand

The Governance & Succession Series of talks is designed to bring together industry experts to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by business families when considering governance and succession to the family business.
The emergence of the Single Family Office is also explored, along with the need for families as well as business professionals to understand the need for robust family office governance and succession plans.
In this podcast, we shall explore the extent of the governance and succession challenges faced by business families based in Malaysia and Thailand (respectively), typical governance and succession structures and solutions will be discussed.
We shall specifically consider whether and to what extent internationally held structures and solutions may be capable of use in a domestic governance setting, as well as mention of relevant capital and foreign ownership restrictions and controls.
Demand for family offices solutions will then be assessed and discussed, with specific reference to the Singapore Single Family Office.
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Webinar audio recording dated 23 Sep 2020. See Disclaimer, Copyright and Trademarks at https://www.zaclucas.com/disclaimer