Main Story:
Is STAR the solution?
The most notable ones are:
British Virgin Islands – VISTA (Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act 2003)
- VISTA was specifically designed to enable trustees to own shares in companies whilst excluding the requirement for that trustee to play any part in the management of the company. The more sophisticated objective of combining purposes and the interests of individual beneficiaries can be addressed by writing specific clauses into the trust document. This can be seen as a less robust option when compared to the STAR Law which was designed with both objectives in mind.
Jersey – Trusts (Jersey) Law 1996 Revision
- In 1996 the Jersey Trust Law was amended to enable the creation of charitable and non-charitable purpose trusts. In a similar way to VISTA, and unlike STAR, the focus of this legislation is on the purpose only as opposed to combining that requirement with that of individual beneficiaries.
Bermuda – Trusts (Special Provisions) Act 1989
- Bermuda was the first common law jurisdiction to allow purpose trusts and its limitations are similar to those of VISTA and the Jersey purpose trust.
Guernsey – Trusts (Guernsey) Law, 2007
- Guernsey purpose trusts allow for a combination of charitable and non-charitable purposes whilst also taking account of beneficiaries. This legislation has only recently been introduced and does not have the track record that the STAR law offers.
Under each piece of legislation (including the STAR law) all actions must be lawful and must not be against public policy. All legislation, excluding VISTA, also provides for the inclusion of the role of Enforcer, as defined in the article.