Trustee Selection and Protectors

Bender Brothers & Co specialises in the selection and continued oversight of trustees through protectorships.   It has longstanding experience with the Channel Islands, Caribbean, Hong Kong and Liechtenstein.  There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a licensed trust company, such as the levels of debt in its ownership structure, competence of staff, remuneration policy, rigour of compliance procedures and jurisdictional breadth.   Bender Brothers & Co provides protectorships to ensure that the interests of beneficiaries are not overlooked and to avoid professional conflicts.  It is important that trustees are not incentivised to prioritise revenue targets over their fiduciary duty, which has led to hefty regulatory fines in recent history.
 

As a settlor is usually required to relinquish control over assets to maintain the ‘arms-length’ quality of a trust, there is a clear need for safeguards other than potentially expensive litigation.  A protector’s role is to oversee the good governance of a fiduciary arrangement on behalf of the beneficiaries. He would typically have the power to replace trustees in cases of failing to act in good faith (dishonesty) or to provide a service to a reasonable professional standard (incompetence).  A protector’s intervention could remove a need for lengthy litigation and should provide considerable comfort for both settlors and beneficiaries.