Anti-Money Laundering Europe (AME) hosted a webinar on 29 September that was moderated by the chairman of STEP Europe, Paolo Panico TEP.… Read More Anti-Money Laundering Europe (AME) roundtable on the EU’s AML/CFT legislative package
The 1 September deadline has passed for registerable trusts, simplifying the timescale to the same 90 days for all nontaxable trusts. It seems a good time to highlight other simplifications, affecting trusts of insurance policies, which may not be immediately apparent.… Read More How cross-sector collaboration clarified life and health trusts registration protections
The Law Commission of England and Wales published a consultation paper on 28 July seeking views from legal and technology experts in order to examine how existing personal property law should apply to digital assets. The UK government has asked the Law Commission to make recommendations for reform to ensure that the law is capable… Read More England and Wales Law Commission consults on reforming the law relating to digital assets
STEP informed members in November 2020[1] that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) had jointly initiated a project to modernise the process of making and registering lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) in England and Wales. The collaboration involved a series of stakeholder working groups to obtain research that… Read More Modernising LPAs: consultation published
The Edinburgh Tax Network celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Trust Scotland Act 1921 by hosting a web event for stakeholders this week, which STEP attended. The centenary of the Principal Statute on 19 August has prompted the Scottish Law Commission to submit a draft bill for potential reform, the Trusts (Scotland) Bill, to the… Read More Trust Scotland Act 1921 centenary prompts call for reform
UPDATE 13 DECEMBER 2021 On 13 December 2021, during the release of its iOS 15.2 update, Apple officially released its Digital Legacy feature, which lets people choose the specific people (up to five family members or friends) who will be able to access their account after they die. The chosen contacts will then be able… Read More Progress on digital legacy planning from internet service providers
The Law Commission of England and Wales has announced a public consultation on its 14th Programme of Law Reform and has published a scoping document providing background on the programme and ideas for potential projects. STEP is hosting a joint webinar with the Law Commission on 19 May to discuss the proposals in further detail.… Read More Invitation to STEP/Law Commission free webinar on its 14th Programme of Law Reform
The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced a public consultation on increasing selected court fees in line with historical inflation dating from August 2016 to April 2021, or from the year the fee was last amended (capped at August 2016). The proposal is limited to fees which are under-recovering compared to the estimated cost… Read More MoJ announces consultation on court fee increases
STEP attended a virtual meeting held by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on 18 March to discuss potential amendments to FATF Standards Recommendation 24 and its implementation. FATF announced its intention to review this area, which may lead to a comprehensive overhaul of the system of beneficial ownership (BO), at a private sector consultative… Read More STEP attends FATF meeting to discuss beneficial ownership regime
On 11 February, STEP Europe held a webinar to examine how various jurisdictions have transposed the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), and particularly how those Member States have chosen to define a business relationship. The panel included Stéphanie Auferil TEP from France; Dr Petra Camilleri from Malta; Aileen Keogan TEP from Ireland; Filippo Noseda TEP… Read More Trusts and AML-CFT registers of beneficial owners: I’m a trustee, do I need to register somewhere?
The STEP Blog 