Trusts are common in family wealth, even for families without a common law background. A trust separates legal ownership from economic benefit: the trustee holds the assets formally, not for itself but for the beneficiaries. That separation makes trusts attractive for succession and asset protection — and demanding for due diligence.
The roles
The settlor creates the trust and transfers the assets. The trustee manages them under the trust deed and its fiduciary duties. The beneficiaries receive distributions or hold expectancies, either fixed or at the trustee’s discretion. There is often a protector who can approve certain trustee decisions or remove the trustee. A letter of wishes records the settlor’s intentions without being legally binding.
Trusts in Switzerland
Swiss law has no domestic trust. Switzerland does, however, recognise foreign trusts through the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition, which has applied to it since 1 July 2007. Professional trustees based in Switzerland need a FINMA licence under the Financial Institutions Act and, like independent asset managers, are supervised by a supervisory organisation.
Who is the beneficial owner of a trust
For a trust there is not one answer but several. Under international standards, the settlor, trustee, protector, the beneficiaries or, for discretionary trusts, the class of beneficiaries, and any other person exercising effective control must be identified. In Swiss practice Form T records this information, as the counterpart to Form A. Looking for a single person misses the structure.
Trusts and the TJPG
The TJPG, in force since October 2026, attaches to legal entities, and a trust is not one. The companies covered by the Act report, even if held by a trust. How control is to be reported in such cases is governed by the Act and its ordinance; the Federal Office of Justice’s case examples help with classification.
Operational consequences
A trust brings its own documents, decision paths and deadlines: trustee resolutions, distributions, reports to beneficiaries, accounts. In a family office’s overall view it is one layer of the structure, often linked to the assets via domiciliary companies. Consolidation must look through these layers, and the roles of the persons involved must be current per trust. Similar questions arise with the family foundation.