Murray Beith Murray LLP is a leading Scottish private client law firm.
For 175 years we have specialised in meeting the legal, financial and administrative needs of individuals and families, family trusts, charities and private companies.
The 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive took effect in the UK on Monday 26 June and introduces new procedures that must be followed when carrying out Anti-Money Laundering checks. The legislation has the effect of increasing the requirements for identification checks on trusts in particular and makes it a requirement that trusts are registered.
In June last year, I posted a Blog regarding European Parliament proposals under draft anti-money laundering rules for public registries of trusts. (See http://www.murraybeith.co.uk/blog?id=15). The terms of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive were finally agreed at the end of 2014 and the good news is that these are much less far reaching than previous drafts of the Directive.
In July, I posted a Blog regarding the Government’s proposals to change the Inheritance Tax treatment of certain types of trusts. In particular, the Government suggested that there should only be a single nil-rate band available to be shared among all trusts established by the same individual after 7 June 2014. In the 2014 Autumn Statement, the Government announced that that proposal (which had met with heavy opposition) would not be taken forward.
For the past 2 years, the Government and HM Revenue and Customs have been reviewing and proposing changes to the Inheritance Tax treatment of Trusts. The latest proposals are not intended to become law until 6 April 2015. However, the new rules proposed would apply to all Trusts created on or after 7 June 2014 and any additions to existing Trusts made after that date.
