A PRIVY COUNCIL ruling overturning a Guernsey Court of Appeal decision has spared the island’s trust industry a huge amount of damage, according to leading trust lawyer Ian Swan.

The Babbe partner (pictured), who acted for the trustees in the case, which centred on the use of exoneration clauses in trust deeds, said the judicial committee’s 3-2 ruling in favour of the appeal by Spread Trust Company Ltd against Hutcheson and others would bring much-needed certainty to the sector.

Advocate Swan, who was speaking at a Babbe seminar on the impact of the Privy Council’s decision, said it was vital for the future of the island’s trust industry that the Guernsey Court of Appeal ruling, which suggested Guernsey customary law would have followed the Scottish trust law, was overturned.

‘Most people who want to establish an offshore trust tend to come through London and they will normally be directed towards jurisdictions where the trust law is familiar,’ said Advocate Swan.

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