trust services

Who is caught

The core instrument is the Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, which regulates persons carrying on trust business in or from within Bermuda under the supervision of the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Trust business means providing trustee services as a business, trade, profession or vocation. A person is brought within scope by carrying on that activity in or from Bermuda unless an exemption applies.

• Licensed undertakings: Companies holding an unlimited trust licence and partnerships or individuals holding a limited trust licence. Unlimited licences are available to local, exempted and Overseas Permit Companies; limited licences are for partnerships, overseas partnerships, other unincorporated entities and individuals.
• Controllers and officers: Controllers, shareholder controllers, directors and senior executives of licensed undertakings are within the regime for fitness, notification and enforcement purposes.
• Auditors and reporting accountants: Auditors and reporting accountants of licensed trust businesses carry statutory notification duties to the Authority.
• Trust companies as licensed entities: Trust companies are treated as Relevant Licensed Entities under the BMA's cross-sector codes on operational cyber risk, operational resilience and outsourcing, and corporate governance, and as AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions under the Proceeds of Crime framework.

The Act also restricts use of the word "trust" in a business name or description to licensed or otherwise authorised persons.

Sources: Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 · Annex I - Sector-Specific Guidance Notes for Trust Business (2022 Guidance Notes for AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions) · Operational Cyber Risk Management Code of Conduct - Corporate Service Providers, Trust Companies, Money Service Businesses, Investment Businesses and Fund Administration Providers (2022-03-15) · Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code (September 2025) · Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code (September 2025) (Tracked Changes) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Information for Prospective Applicants (April 2020) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Code of Practice (December 2019) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Statement of Principles (December 2019) · AML/ATF Sector Specific Guidance Notes for Trust Business on the Prevention and Detection of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism · BMA Corporate Governance Policy for Trust (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, Investment Business Act 2003 and Investment Funds Act 2006 (October 2013) · Operational Cyber Risk Management Code of Conduct (September 2022 Revised) · Corporate Governance Policy for Trust, Investment Business and Fund Administration Providers (Revised August 2022)

Key duties

The central obligation is licensing: no person may carry on trust business in or from within Bermuda without the appropriate trust licence, and unlicensed trust business is a criminal offence. Licensed undertakings then carry continuing prudential, reporting, governance and notification duties, several with fixed deadlines.

Filings and deadlines

• Quarterly returns: All licensed undertakings must submit standard financial statements and a liquidity analysis quarterly, within 21 business days of each calendar quarter.
• Annual audited accounts: Companies holding unlimited trust licences must submit audited financial information annually, no later than four months after the end of their financial year. Licensees must prepare annual accounts and appoint auditors.
• Certificate of Compliance: Each licensed undertaking must submit an annual Certificate of Compliance, signed by an officer, confirming compliance with the minimum licensing criteria and Codes of Practice. Failure to do so is an offence under section 35. Non-company undertakings must also confirm compliance with the section 11(3) limitations.
• Annual fees: Licensees must pay the annual licence fee set under the Bermuda Monetary Authority Act fee schedules, and register and display their licence as required.

Governance and conduct

• Physical presence: Licensed undertakings must maintain a physical presence in Bermuda and be directed and managed from Bermuda.
• Segregation of client funds: Trust funds must be kept separate from the licensee's own funds and from other trusts' funds absent proper consents, with records reconciled at least monthly and client money policies reviewed at least annually.
• Codes of Practice: Licensees must have regard to the Code of Practice issued under section 7, covering client due diligence, conflicts of interest, trust creation and delegation, complaints, fees, advertising and risk management. Corporate trustees' boards must comprise only individuals.
• Corporate governance: Licensees must implement corporate governance policies and processes proportionate to their nature, scale, complexity and risk profile, be effectively directed by at least two individuals (or one where the Authority approves), and have appropriate non-executive oversight; this is a statutory minimum licensing criterion.
• AML/ATF: As Regulated Financial Institutions, trust businesses must comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008, applying a risk-based approach, customer and beneficial-owner due diligence, ongoing monitoring, suspicious activity reporting to the Financial Intelligence Agency, a compliance and reporting officer, and staff training.

Notification duties

• Change of controller or officer: Licensees must notify the Authority of any change of controller or officer, and persons acquiring or increasing control must notify new or increased shareholder control.
• Material developments: Undertakings are expected to alert the Authority promptly of breaches or potential breaches, material business changes, key personnel changes, litigation, foreign regulator inquiries, cybersecurity incidents and concerns about a shareholder controller's suitability.
• Reporting accountants: A reporting accountant who identifies a fact or matter of material significance (such as material misstatement, going-concern doubt, material internal control weakness, or evidence of fraud or deliberate misleading of the Authority by senior executives) must notify the Authority under sections 36(2) or 45(2A).
• Cyber reporting events: Under the Operational Cyber Risk Management Code, trust companies must maintain a cyber risk programme, appoint a Chief Information Security Officer, test business continuity plans, and notify the Authority of cyber reporting events; compliance was required by 15 February 2023.
• Outsourcing and operational resilience: Trust companies must manage outsourcing under the 2019 guidance (prior notification of material outsourcing with a 20 working day objection period) and, under the Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code, identify important business services, set impact tolerances, prepare an annual self-assessment and notify the BMA of significant developments; that Code sets a general compliance date of 31 March 2028.

Licensees must also produce documents, information and reports to the Authority on request and must not obstruct investigations.

Sources: Bermuda Monetary Authority Amendment (No. 3) Act 2018 · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) (Reporting Accountants) (Facts and Matters of Material Significance) Regulations 2006 · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 · Annex I - Sector-Specific Guidance Notes for Trust Business (2022 Guidance Notes for AML/ATF Regulated Financial Institutions) · Operational Cyber Risk Management Code of Conduct - Corporate Service Providers, Trust Companies, Money Service Businesses, Investment Businesses and Fund Administration Providers (2022-03-15) · Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code (September 2025) · Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code (September 2025) (Tracked Changes) · Letter to Stakeholders on Outsourcing Guidance (2019-06-28) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Information for Prospective Applicants (April 2020) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Code of Practice (December 2019) · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 - Statement of Principles (December 2019) · AML/ATF Sector Specific Guidance Notes for Trust Business on the Prevention and Detection of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism · BMA Corporate Governance Policy for Trust (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, Investment Business Act 2003 and Investment Funds Act 2006 (October 2013) · Operational Cyber Risk Management Code of Conduct (September 2022 Revised) · Outsourcing for Banks, Deposit Companies, the Bermuda Stock Exchange, Corporate Service Providers, Trust Companies, Money Service Businesses, Investment Businesses, Fund Administrators and the Credit Union (28 June 2019) · Corporate Governance Policy for Trust, Investment Business and Fund Administration Providers (Revised August 2022)

Exemptions and carve-outs

Two instruments provide the principal carve-outs from the section 9 licensing requirement, and exempt status carries its own notification and declaration conditions.

Exemption Order 2002

• Private trust companies: A trust company providing trustee services only to trusts specified in its memorandum of association or overseas permit is exempt, but must notify the Authority that it qualifies (within three months), give particulars of its trust business, notify changes, and file an annual declaration on or before 31 March each year.
• Members of recognised professional bodies: A trustee who is a member of a professional body recognised by the Minister and holds a certificate issued under the Order is exempt.
• Co-trustees: A trustee acting as co-trustee alongside at least one licensed trustee is exempt.
• Records held by a licensed trustee: A professional person acting as trustee is exempt where he appoints a specified licensed trust company connected to him to maintain the trust's records.
• Other exemptions: Bare trustees, and trustees of registered pension plans, registered pension trust funds, and authorised or exempted investment funds, are exempt from licensing.

Trusts administered outside Bermuda

• Order 2003 carve-out: A person is not treated as carrying on trust business in Bermuda if trustee of a trust administered from a place outside Bermuda, provided that corporate trustees are incorporated outside Bermuda with a majority of directors ordinarily resident outside Bermuda, or, for individual trustees, a majority are ordinarily resident outside Bermuda.

Separately, the cross-sector Corporate Governance Policy and the operational codes exclude investment funds themselves, and the Corporate Governance Policy excludes Corporate Service Providers; entities under a regulatory sandbox or test licence are excluded from the Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code. These are scope limits of those instruments rather than exemptions from trust licensing.

Sources: Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Order 2003 · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Exemption Order 2002 · Operational Resilience and Outsourcing Code (September 2025) · BMA Corporate Governance Policy for Trust (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, Investment Business Act 2003 and Investment Funds Act 2006 (October 2013) · Corporate Governance Policy for Trust (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, Investment Business Act 2003, and Investment Funds Act 2006 (October 2013) · Corporate Governance Policy for Trust, Investment Business and Fund Administration Providers (Revised August 2022) · Corporate Governance Policy for Trust (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001, Investment Business Act 2003 and Investment Funds Act 2006 (October 2013)

Enforcement and penalties

The Authority has a broad disciplinary and enforcement toolkit under the Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001. Carrying on unlicensed trust business is a criminal offence, as is obstructing an Authority investigation.

• Disciplinary powers: The Authority may restrict or revoke licences, impose civil penalties, issue public censures, make prohibition orders against directors and officers, seek injunctions, and issue warning and decision notices, and may publish information about enforcement action.
• Civil penalty amounts: Under the Authority's Statement of Principles on the Use of Enforcement Powers, a penalty of up to 5,000 dollars per week may be imposed for late lodgment of statutory filings, and a penalty of up to 500,000 dollars per breach may be imposed for breaches of obligations under the relevant Act.
• Enforcement process: Breaches identified through supervision are first raised with senior management or the board, and only referred to the Enforcement Committee where unresolved, grave or wilful. Enforcement decisions weigh the gravity and impact of the breach, compliance history, deterrence and Bermuda's reputation.
• Right of appeal: Decisions such as licence revocation, civil penalties, public censure and prohibition orders carry a right of appeal to the Trust Business Appeal Tribunal, whose procedure (including strict time limits for notices of appeal) is set out in the Trust Business Appeal Tribunal Regulations 2004.

Enforcement in practice

• Conyers Trust Company (Bermuda) Limited: Civil penalties totalling 1,118,500 dollars in 2022 for historic failures under the Trusts Act minimum criteria and the AML/ATF Regulations, following 2017 and 2018 inspections.
• Meritus Trust Company Limited: Civil penalties totalling 600,000 dollars in 2024 for AML/ATF and licensing-criteria failings identified in 2022 inspections, since remediated.
• Estera Services (Bermuda) Limited: Civil penalties totalling 500,000 dollars in 2019, under sections 29A and 33B of the Act, for failure to remediate AML/ATF deficiencies within the Authority's timeframe.

Sources: Trust Business Appeal Tribunal Regulations 2004 · Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001 · Statement of Principles on the Use of Enforcement Powers · Notice - Statement of Principles on the Use of Enforcement Powers · Notice - Enforcement Action - Civil Penalties - Meritus Trust Company Limited (2024-12-30) · Statement of Principles on the Use of Enforcement Powers (2012-12-13) · Civil Penalties - Meritus Trust Company Limited (2024-12-30) · Civil Penalties - Conyers Trust Company (Bermuda) Limited (2022-05-02) · Civil Penalty - Estera Services (Bermuda) Limited (2019-06-14)