International Trusts

 

There has of late been a fall off in the use of International Trusts for a number of reasons, not least of which has been cost.

 

The Warwick Global International Trust offers a simple and cost effective product from Mauritius. Mauritius is a politically stable, democratic state enjoying a vibrant and diverse economy. It has a well established and regulated financial services sector which adheres to international accepted norms and best practices. As a jurisdiction, Mauritius offers significant benefits from an extensive range of Double Taxation agreements, a favorable fiscal regime with no capital gains tax or estate duty and excellent telecommunications facilities as a result of significant investment and deregulation in recent years.

Our trust and company products are of use for private and corporate clients, yet it also gives the client a realistic and very competitive cost structure.

Why create a Trust?

 

A trust is usually created for the protection of wealth. Typically, a Trust could be used for the following purposes:

 

  • Estate Planning: A Trust can achieve many things which can be achieved by a will, or can be created under a will. A Trust can be an effective way of making arrangements for Settlor following his death.
  • Forced Heirship: In some countries there is legislation which dictates the manner of wealth distribution on the death of the owner. If that legislation conflicts with the wishes of the current owner of the assets they may be protected by the transfer to a trust.
  • Protection of Assets: When a Settlor of a Trust passes his assets to a Trustee the legal title of those assets is vested in the Trustee and Settlor no longer has any legal control over the assets.
  • Mitigation of Taxation Liabilities: An effective method of reducing taxes on the assets placed in a Trust, which may provide a shield between the Settlor, Beneficiaries and Trust Fund. The effectiveness and range of options will vary depending on the countries concerned.

The Warwick Global Investment Trust (WGIT)

 

The WGIT is a Trust designed to hold one life insurance policy, a private international pension and a maximum of 5 (five) investments all of which needs to be listed on international stock exchanges. The Trust Deed specifies the interest which each Beneficiary is entitled to and the Trustees do not have any discretionary powers when distributing the Trust assets to beneficiaries. This means you are in control of your assets yet receive all the benefits offered by the formation of a trust.

 

Discretionary Trust

 

The most common form of Trust set up in Mauritius is the Discretionary Trust, the legal framework for Trusts contained in the Trust Act of 2001 allows for various other types of Trusts to be set up, for example: Charitable, Purpose and Trading Trusts. The Trust may provide for the appointment of any person as managing trustee who is entrusted with the management without being vested with the Trust property, which vested in a custodian trustee. Many trustees in more mature Trust jurisdictions have used this dual mechanism to effectively outsource the management of Trusts to a lower-cost jurisdiction like Mauritius whilst still retaining legal title to the assets.

 

Corporate Services

  • Company formation and administration – Global Business Company 1 and 2, BVI and Seychelles Company.
  • Provision of directors, secretary and nominee shareholding
  • Registered agent and registered office facilities
  • Maintenance of books and accounting records