Guernsey Foundations - Best of Breed?

Guernsey was the first of the Crown Dependencies to look at introducing foundations law but will be the last to actually do so. Has Guernsey missed the boat or taken the lessons from other jurisdictions and given us the best of breed?

TIMING...

The Foundations (Guernsey) Law 2012 was approved on 25 July 2012 and is awaiting Privy Council consent. The Guernsey Registry for Foundations is envisaged to be open for business by 2 January next year. It is difficult to predict the level of take up but the legislation has certainly been well received by commentators and advisers are now getting to grips with the key features of the new offering.

KEY FEATURES...

At the risk of oversimplification, foundations have been described as "looking like a company but working like a trust". Compared to the format adopted by its Channel Islands neighbour, the Guernsey foundation could be described as less obviously corporate than the Jersey model. For example, it has separate