Introduction
On 15 October 1999 the Gibraltar House of Assembly passed the Registered Trust Ordinance 1999. The Ordinance makes provision for the registering of a trust deed where registration is required under the terms of the trust deed and for the keeping of an index of trusts registered under the ordinance, from 1 January 2000.
Gibraltar trusts are completely private and their existence does not have to be registered with any public authority, however the ordinance now allows for issue of a certificate of the recording of the trust by the Registrar of Registered Trusts.
Generally shares in underlying companies and other assets are registered in the trustees names without evidence that they are held in trust.
Some jurisdictions do not recognise the concept of trusts, mainly civil law countries such as Spain, Portugal etc. and by the establishment of Registered Trusts, it is hoped to provide a legal record of the establishment of a trust for use in those countries.
Index of Trusts
Where so required by the trust deed, the trustee(s) must deliver the trust deed to the Registrar for recording. The Registrar will then record the following information in an index, which is available for inspection by the public:
- The name of the Trust
- The date of its creation
- The amount of the initial settlement
- The date of its registration
- The name(s) of the trustee(s)
- The address for service of documents in Gibraltar.
The Registrar will then give a certificate of recording and return the trust deed endorsed with the date of recording. The Trust Deed will not form part of the records of the Registrar
Any changes to the information contained in the index must be notified to the Registrar within 21 days of the change.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
