Special, But Still A Trust

VISTA trusts, as they are commonly known, came into existence in 2004 with the enactment in the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") of the Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act 2003 ("VISTA").  During these past 10 or so years, VISTA trusts have proved to be very popular and are strongly marketed by BVI service providers.  As with all markets where there is a choice, there is strong competition and this has led to a certain degree of standardisation in respect of documentation, cost and client expectation. 

It is, however, important to take a step back and to remember that a VISTA trust remains a trust and that trustees of VISTA trusts still have significant duties and liabilities. 

VISTA was introduced to deal with one specific issue: to disengage a shareholder trustee from management responsibility in respect of the shares in an underlying company held as part of the trust fund.  VISTA enables a trust to be established where the trustee has an express duty to retain