Trust

A Trust is a legal arrangement where one person (the Settlor) transfers his assets and wealth into a fund (the Trust Fund) and gives the management to another body (the Trustee) to be held on trust for the benefit of named beneficiaries which can include the Settlor.
 
Mauritius trusts are governed by The Trusts Act 2001. The said Act imposes a strict duty of confidentiality on trustees and except where ordered by the Court or Judge in Chambers, a trustee shall keep as confidential and shall not disclose information or documents to any person not legally entitled to it.

Mauritius has become a jurisdiction of choice for the creation and administration of trusts under the law of Mauritius. Different types of trusts can be set up in Mauritius by non-residents. These can be trust with fixed interest in possession, discretionary trust, purpose trust, including charitable trust, asset protection trust and trust for the benefit of employees, among others.

There is no mandatory requirement to register the trust with the regulatory authorities in Mauritius, which protects the confidentiality of clients. However, a trustee may register the trust to receive what is called a “date certaine”, i.e. registering when the trust was created. Only the trust deed is required and is registered with the Registrar General.

A Private Trust Company (PTC) is permissible in Mauritius and is attractive to high net worth individual (HNWI). The PTC, which can either be set up as Category 1 Global Business Licence (GBC1) or a Category 2 Global Business Licence (GBC2),shall act as trustee of the assets of HNWI that would be settled in a trust or a number of trusts.

Trusts can be used to:

• safeguard assets against bankruptcy if timed carefully;
• achieve an orderly distribution of the settlor's assets after his death, including the holding of assets for minors until they reach majority;
• rearrange beneficial ownership of assets;
• avoid inheritance laws in the country of residence;
• accumulate income and protect assets;
• manage pension funds and investments generally;
• provide for charitable giving.