Trusts and the revised 4AMLD

In my 26 November 2015 blog, I wrote about the impact on trusts of the EU’s first draft of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD).  It seemed that only if the trust generated ‘tax consequences’ would the trustees have to provide details about the trust to a central register, which would not be publicly available.  However, a revised version of the draft 4AMLD was published by the European Commission on 5 July and it envisages public access to trust beneficial ownership information for certain trusts only.  The coming into force of the 4AMLD is brought forward to 1 January 2017, from 26 June 2017.

Brits abroad! Will planning for Brits with foreign assets

With the summer holiday season upon us, it’s time to dust down those dreams of owning a bolthole in your favourite part of the world, where summer means summer and the sky is always blue.  It’s not uncommon for Brits to own assets outside the UK these days and not just the infamous holiday home in the sun.  In acquiring assets abroad, though, the last thing usually considered is what happens to those assets on death and is an English Will any use in getting them sorted out?