Recent Court Decisions Affecting Trusts In The Cayman Islands

A number of recent Grand Court decisions have demonstrated that the Cayman Islands Court remains at the forefront of developments in trusts and trust litigation. Three notable cases address subjects as varied as protector's powers, the validity of no contest clauses and the circumstances in which the Court will refuse to entertain a claim on the ground that it amounts indirect tax gathering on behalf of a foreign revenue authority.

The 2006 decision, In the matter of the Circle Trust, HSBC International Trustee Limited v Wong and Five Others ¹arose out of an acrimonious dispute between beneficiaries of a trust relating to the control and running of a paper manufacturing business established in China and Hong Kong. The Plaintiff Trustee applied to the Court for the preliminary determination of various questions, including issues relating to the nature of the Protector's duties. In an effort to assert