Modern Trust Law Aids Guernsey’s International Expansion

Originally published in Wealth Management Review, 2008 Volume 1

Guernsey can justifiably claim to have the most modern trust law of any major international finance centre, The Trusts (Guernsey) Law, 2007, having received royal assent on 12 February 2008 and becoming effective from 17 March. The new law substantially overhauls the previous 1989 one, which was the first occasion on which Guernsey had a codified trust law.

Among the enhancements introduced in the new legislation are:

• the introduction of "purpose" trusts
  
  
• the exclusion of foreign law in determining the validity of a trust