With the recently passed Purpose Trust Bill, 2004, The Bahamas has added another dimension to the jurisdiction’s trust business.
The most interesting feature of purpose trusts is the fact that benefits are for a purpose rather than persons or entities, and there is no one to whom beneficial entitlement in the trust property is vested.
"There are many estate planning exercises and other commercial transactions that can legitimately and properly take advantage of this kind of structure,"
says The. Hon. Alfred Sears, Attorney General.
These uses include:
- The holding of shares of a private company, which is expressly authorised by the Act. In this structure, the settlor and members of his family and his advisors may be appointed directors of the private trust company and thereby assume some responsibility for the management of the trust. This is often useful when the assets of the trust are of an unusual nature.
