
Trustees 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 in particular. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a licensed trust company such as debt levels, ownership structure, management expertise, remuneration policy, compliance procedures and jurisdictional breadth. Bender Brothers & Co provides independent co-trustees in addition to protectors to ensure that the interests of beneficiaries are not overlooked.
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 settlor and beneficiary alike.