Private wealth Structuring Private trust company - factsheet
Growing popularity of the Private Trust Company
A PTC is a corporate structure which acts specifically as a trustee for one or more related
Private Trust Companies (PTCs) have been used
Some settlors may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with handing over control of their assets
in international structured finance transactions for
to a professional trustee and may prefer to establish their own trustee in the form of a PTC
decades,but there has been a notable trend in their
where a greater degree of control may be provided by enabling the settlor to control the
increasing popularity in private wealth structuring.
composition of the board of the PTC.
trusts. A trust is established when the settlor transfers ownership of certain assets to the trustee who controls and manages the trust assets on behalf of the beneficiaries of the trust.
Trustee Enforcer
Administrator
Enforces purpose
What are the ownership structures for a PTC? The shares in the PTC may be held by the settlor or members of their family directly. This may give rise to issues such as probate requirements in the event of the
Purpose Trust
death of a shareholder, succession,
Private Trust Company
confidentiality, asset protection, or taxation. Alternatively, the shares in the PTC may be held by an orphan structure such as a charitable or non-charitable purpose trust (which, unlike a conventional trust, can be
Settlor
Settles assets into trust
Beneficiaries Family Trust
formed to hold assets for a purpose without conferring a benefit on any person) or a company limited by guarantee (which does not have share capital or shareholders but
SPV - Family company shares
SPV - Yacht
for a set amount towards the company’s debts).
SPV - Property
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members who act as guarantors
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