Offshore Trusts in Bahamas and BVI

Both the governments of Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have been working hard in 2007 to make their particular offshore tax havens especially attractive to those seeking offshore trust solutions.  Because there is big business to be gained by making the laws of your jurisdiction tax attractive and highly competitive when it comes to the attraction and retention of offshore trust business, it makes sense for these locations to be diversifying away from their current relatively heavy focus specifically on the offshore IBC business.

In terms of offshore trusts in the Bahamas and BVI now, it’s possible for the establishment of PTCs which are Private Trust Companies which, when created can specifically allow the person establishing the trust, (the settlor), greater control over the assets within the trust and the ongoing management of it.  The Bahamanian bespoke PTC legislation makes this jurisdiction particularly attractive for those seeking offshore trust solutions for a family group for example.

A PTC or Private Trust Company is formed specifically for the purpose as acting as trustee for a trust or for a group of trusts if they are all held by or for the benefit of a single family for example.  The company itself has no intrinsic worth but is of value because it acts as the trustee.  These facts are true of PTCs in the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands…but the former has gone a stage further to make its PTCs even more attractive…

In the Bahamas under the Banks and Trusts Regulation Act, a PTC does not have to have regulatory approval for establishment of operation and what this means in terms of features and benefits for those looking at suitable jurisdictions for the creation of their offshore trusts, is that an additional layer of privacy is added to their affairs.  There can be direct and private interaction between parties involved in the establishment and management of the trust without a requirement for additional regulatory involvement.  It is expected that this will result in the growth of the offshore trust business written in the Bahamas.

The British Virgin Islands also now allow for PTCs to act as trustees but their legislation doesn’t allow for such high levels of privacy as the Bahamanian laws do.