Private Trust Companies Regulations (2020 Revision)

Summary

This is the consolidated 2020 Revision of the Private Trust Companies Regulations, made under the Banks and Trust Companies Law. It sets out a regime allowing a company that qualifies as a 'private trust company' (a Cayman-incorporated trust company that conducts only trust business connected to a defined group of 'connected persons') to operate without holding a full trust licence, provided it registers with and pays fees to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).

• Registered office: Maintain its registered office at the premises of a licensed trust company.
• Record-keeping: Keep specified trust records available for CIMA inspection.
• Annual registration: Register annually with CIMA, including filing an annual declaration and identification documents for directors and shareholders.
• Fees: Pay initial and annual registration fees.
• Director: Appoint a natural person as a director.
• No public solicitation: Avoid soliciting contributions from the public.
• Naming: Use 'Private Trust Company' or 'PTC' in its name.

CIMA may refuse or cancel registration on specified grounds, such as AML breaches or fitness and propriety concerns, and breaches of key provisions (registered office and record-keeping, or annual registration requirements) attract a summary conviction fine. A schedule to the regulations defines the categories of 'connected persons' relevant to determining whether trust business qualifies as 'connected trust business'.

This document is a consolidated revision reflecting several earlier amendments (2009, 2013, 2019) and is in force; it does not itself introduce new substantive changes beyond what is already consolidated, but is the current authoritative text of the regulations.

Key obligations

• A private trust company must maintain its registered office at the office of a company holding a Trust licence under section 6(5)(c) of the Banks and Trust Companies Law.
• A private trust company must keep at its registered office, and make available for CIMA inspection, adequate, accurate and up-to-date records of each relevant trust (trust deed, trustee, settlor, protector, enforcer, contributor and beneficiary details, variations, and financial/transactional records).
• To rely on the licensing exemption, a private trust company must register with CIMA and, at registration and on or before 31 January every year thereafter, file an annual declaration with specified details (company name, directors, shareholders/members, registered office licence holder, confirmation of private trust company status and compliance).
• A private trust company must file with CIMA, in the specified form, proof of identification of its directors and shareholders.
• A private trust company must pay CIMA an initial registration fee of US$3,500 and thereafter an annual registration fee of US$3,500; late payment incurs a surcharge of up to one-twelfth of the annual fee per month or part-month of delay.
• A private trust company must not file false, misleading or inaccurate information in its registration filings.
• If any information provided to CIMA for registration changes, the private trust company must inform CIMA of the change within thirty days.
• A private trust company registering, or making any change to its board membership after commencement of the relevant amending regulations, must have a natural person appointed as a director.
• A private trust company must not solicit or receive contributions to trusts of which it is trustee from the public or from persons who are not connected persons in relation to each other.
• A private trust company must include the words 'Private Trust Company' or the letters 'PTC' in its registered company name; no other person may use these words/letters in describing their business.
• A private trust company surrendering its registration must pay CIMA a fee of three hundred dollars upon surrender.

Applies to

private trust companies, trust companies (holders of a Trust licence providing registered office services)

Deadlines

• on or before the 31st day of January every year: Annual deadline for a registered private trust company to file its annual declaration and pay the annual registration fee to CIMA.
• within thirty days of the change: A private trust company must inform CIMA within thirty days of any change to the information previously provided for its registration.

Related documents

• Private Trust Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 amends this document
• Private Trust Companies Regulations (2026 Revision) replaces this document