STEP Publishes Book On Regulation Of Trust And Company Service Providers

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

01 September 2006

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners announced this week that it has published a new book, entitled 'The Regulation of Trust and Company Service Providers'.

The book, by Kimberley Roe LLB (Hons), LLM (IBL), TEP and Gary Envis LLB (Hons), TEP, was written, with experienced practitioners, regulators, compliance officers, and advanced students in mind, following a comprehensive study of the anti-money laundering, conduct of business, and company service providers regulations. The findings span twelve financial services jurisdictions.

The catalyst for this research was the announcement of the Third EU Money Laundering Directive, which has now come into force and introduces the requirement for, amongst others, trust and company service providers to be registered or licensed under a “fit and proper” test.

The new EU Directive also provides more detailed customer due diligence requirements, introduces the requirement for Money Service Businesses to be licensed or registered under a “fit and proper test”.

Rosemary Marr, Deputy Chair of STEP, announced that:

“There can be no doubt that the traditional 'offshore' industry has led the way in regulating trust and company service providers. This research will encourage the less regulated financial centres, including those considered 'onshore', to achieve the regulatory standards already attained by many offshore centres. This will be the greatest challenge for the international community as only a level playing field of regulation will defeat the criminals.”

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