Villa d'Este: Breakfast Briefing

4th April 2019: Tucked away in a secluded room at 67 Pall Mall: The Club, fourteen leading private client advisors and litigators got together to discuss the latest global hurdles flooding the industry. Chaired by Basil Zirinis of Sullivan & Cromwell, the group raised pressing concerns that are likely to grace the stage at the International Private Client Forum in Villa d'Este on November 14-16th 2019. The synopsis of the Global Elite private members' briefing is as follows:

Brexit. A discussion is not complete in 2019 if the impact of Brexit on our practice and clientele goes unmentioned. Will London remain the centre of the private client world? The resounding answer was yes: the work that the private client community focuses on does not depend on Brexit, as the majority of clients are globally facing. Additionally, common law trumps civil law in the type of work that the community delivers, making the UK continuously well placed to advise clients.  However, the long term impact to the UK's legal infrastructure was certainly noted, with the indication that such infrastructure will follow behind the 'quiet relocation' of US banking lawyers who are currently exiting the UK for brighter climes. Despite this, there is still hope: as one attendee noted, if England plays Brexit well, it could make for a more exciting version of Switzerland!

The area many members agreed upon that is more likely than Brexit to draw clients away from the UK is privacy. In particular, the inability to hear trust and estate proceedings in private, an area offshore is likely dominate and overtake in, in years to come. Is the UK going to see an increased move to arbitration, and further laws to enable matters to be arbitrated effectively?

Garnering attention in Belgium, Denmark and France is the UBO Register. Whilst the UBO Register aims to boost transparency, in practice it means that where a beneficial interest in a corporate body is held through a trust, the individual trustee(s) and/ or any other natural persons exercising significant influence or control over the activities of the trust should be disclosed as the beneficial owner, alongside other information. What will be the interpretation of the UBO Register Directive in other Member States? Does it raise discriminatory issues if there are conflicting interpretations?

Last but not least, on the lips of many is exploring the use of fund planning for clients, including how other jurisdictions such as the Middle East and LatAm deal with it and the strategies employed.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Global Elite and taking advantage of our 25+ global dinner discussions, please contact Angela Moran at [email protected].