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Article MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL, INTERNATIONAL AND OFFSHORE TRUSTS. CHALLENGING ISSUES OF THE CORRELATION OF CONCEPTS
Authors Ganna Buiadzhy
Name of magazine Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version)
Issue 1 / 2018
Pages 232 - 250
Annotation

Currently, most of the research papers in Ukraine are mainly focused on the trusts, the parties to which are residents of one state and with the trust property located in the territory of the same state. However, along with national trusts there are also international ones, i. e. trusts with the parties – residents of different countries. The specific thing about international trusts is that their members are representatives of different countries, including those which traditionally do not recognize the concept of a trust, such as citizens of Ukraine. Besides, along with the concept of “international trust” there are concepts of “multi-jurisdictional trust” and “offshore trust”, the meanings of which are not fully investigated in Ukraine as well. The purpose of this article is to study the concept and specific features of multijurisdictional, international and offshore trusts, and to find out how they correlate. The article examines the concepts of multi-jurisdictional, international and offshore trusts and offers the author’s definition of these terms, and how they relate to each other. The comparative analysis of current law in different countries allows identifying the characteristic features of international trusts which fundamentally distinguish them from other types of trusts. The article also analyzes the provisions of the EU List of non-cooperative jurisdictions for [achievement of] tax purposes issued by the EU Council in 2017, which for the first time officially defined which countries are on the “black” and “grey” list of offshore jurisdictions. In the course of the research the author has arrived at the following conclusions. The concept of “multi-jurisdictional trust” (or international trust in the broad sense) is most common and essentially means a trust with a foreign element. The concept of international trust in the narrow sense means a trust established under the laws of a particular country, with at least one trustee being a resident of this country while the founder and the beneficiary are residents of another country. An offshore trust is an international trust established in the jurisdiction which does not comply with international standards of tax policies and information transparency in terms of doing business, and which is also officially on the “black” or “grey” list of offshore countries. Offshore as well as international trusts (in the narrow sense) are multi-jurisdictional trusts because they comprise a foreign element and are linked to several legal systems. At the same time, not every multi-jurisdictional trust can be classified as an international one and especially as an offshore trust.

 

Keywords multi-jurisdictional trusts; international trusts; offshore trusts; offshore jurisdiction; List of non-cooperative jurisdictions for [achievement of] tax purposes;
References

List of legal documents 
 

Legislation 
1. Barbados International Trusts Act. 1995. URL: https://www.investbarbados.org/docs/ International%20Trusts.PDF (accessed: 15.01.2018) (in English). 
2. Cook Islands International Trusts Act. 1984. URL: https://protectyou.com/wp-content/ uploads/2013/10/interational_trust_act_1984_cook_islands.pdf (accessed: 21.12.2017) (in English). 
3. Council Conclusions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, No. 15429/17, adopted on 5/12/2017. URL: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ media/31945/st15429en17.pdf (accessed: 24.12.2017) (in English). 
4. Cyprus International Trusts Act. 1992. URL: http://www.stepcyprus.com/booklet/6%20 International%20Trusts%20(Consolidated)%20Law%20of%201992%20and%20 2012%20english.pdf (accessed: 22.12.2017) (in English). 
5. Saint Lucia International Trusts Act. 1999. No. 39. URL: https://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/ legis/nofr/oeur/arch/stl/int_trust.pdf (accessed: 20.12.2017) (in English). 
6. Saint Vincent And The Grenadines International Trusts Act. 1996. No. 20; Act No. 39. URL: http://svgfsa.com/pdf/international_trusts_act.pdf (accessed: 20.12.2017) (in English). 
7. Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act. 2003. No. 10. URL: http://www.bvifsc.vg/Portals/2/ Virgin%20Islands%20Special%20Trusts%20Act,%202003.pdf (accessed: 21.12.2017) (in English). 
8. Virgin Islands Special Trusts (Amendment) Act. 2013. No. 7. URL: http://www.bvifsc. 

vg/Portals/2/Virgin%20Islands%20Special%20Trusts%20(Amendment)%20Act,%20 
2013.pdf (accessed: 21.12.2017) (in English). 
 

Bibliography 
 

Authored books 
9. Hendrickson R A and Neal R Silverman, Changing the Situs of a Trust (Law Journal Press 2016) (in English). 
10. Honiball M and Olivie L, International Tax A South African Perspective (5th edn, Siber Ink 2011) (in English). 
11. Hudson А, Principles of Equity and Trusts (Routledge 2016) (in English). 
12. Lupoi M, Trusts: A Comparative Study (Cambridge University Press 2000) (in English). 
13. Morriss A P, Offshore Financial Centers and Regulatory Competition (Government Institutes 2010) (in English). 
14. Panico P, International Trust Law (Oxford University Press 2010) (in English). 
15. Pavlouand S and Iordanou-Theodoulou L, The Cyprus International Trusts (2012) accessed 23 December 2017 (in English). 
16. Onyshchenko G, Dovirchi pravovidnosyny z inozemnym elementom [Trust Relationships with a Foreign Element] (Alerta 2012) (in Ukrainian). 

Edited books 
16. Hayton D (ed), The International Trust (3rd, Jordan Publishing Limited 2011) (in English). 

Dictionaries 
17. ‘Offshore trust’, Business Dictionary accessed 24 December 2017 (in English). 
18. ‘Offshore trust’, Wikipedia accessed 24 December 2017 (in English). 

Articles 
19. Neocleous E and Graham T, ‘The amendments to the Cyprus International Trusts Law: finally enacted’ (2012) (18)5 Trusts & Trustees 415 (in English). 

 

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