PRESS RELEASE
25 March 2026

One Structure At A Time: Multi-Entity Family Offices Under The Microscope

CW
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Contributor

Cadwalader, established in 1792, serves a diverse client base, including many of the world's leading financial institutions, funds and corporations. With offices in the United States and Europe, Cadwalader offers legal representation in antitrust, banking, corporate finance, corporate governance, executive compensation, financial restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, private wealth, real estate, regulation, securitization, structured finance, tax and white collar defense.
Cadwalader partner Matthew Sperry was featured in Crain Currency’s article “How Family Offices Rein in Their Multi-Entity Structures,” which explores how ultra‑high‑net‑worth families can simplify...
United States

Cadwalader partner Matthew Sperry was featured in Crain Currency's article "How Family Offices Rein in Their Multi-Entity Structures," which explores how ultra‑high‑net‑worth families can simplify sprawling webs of trusts, LLCs, holding companies and offshore vehicles while preserving control and tax efficiency. The feature frames deliberate structure, rather than unchecked entity growth, as the key to managing governance, reporting, risk and succession across generations.

Matthew explained that when families invest through pooling vehicles across borders, the choice of jurisdiction is critical to managing tax and regulatory risk. "When you're working across different jurisdictions, there could be tax or local law issues that require you to use different entities and different jurisdictions," he said, noting that Delaware often makes sense when everyone is U.S.-based, while tax‑neutral jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, Jersey or Guernsey may be preferable when non‑U.S. or tax‑exempt investors are involved.

He also underscored the heightened scrutiny on cross‑border structures, pointing to a current matter in which a Canada Revenue Agency audit has spilled over into the United States under tax‑treaty information‑exchange provisions. "These days, the world is more global and more electronic, so it's really important that there is a lot of thought around taxes," Matthew said, emphasizing that sophisticated multi‑entity arrangements require proactive, jurisdiction‑aware tax planning to avoid costly reporting errors.

Crain's March 9, 2026 Crain Currency newsletter subsequently highlighted the feature as its lead, calling it a roadmap for families confronting "entity bloat" and the governance, compliance and succession implications of carrying hundreds of entities across dozens of trusts. The newsletter notes that advisers like Matthew are helping families convert dense, legacy structures into intentional architectures that support clearer decision‑making, better oversight and smoother transitions when founders step back.

Read the full feature here and the newsletter follow‑up here (subscription required).

Contributor

Cadwalader, established in 1792, serves a diverse client base, including many of the world's leading financial institutions, funds and corporations. With offices in the United States and Europe, Cadwalader offers legal representation in antitrust, banking, corporate finance, corporate governance, executive compensation, financial restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, private wealth, real estate, regulation, securitization, structured finance, tax and white collar defense.

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