Law of Trusts and Trustees

In the past a new edition of this standard textbook was producedevery eight years. As David Hayton says, in his preface, thatnow with the need for more frequent editions in light of increasingrapid developments in the trust world this seventeenth editioncomes out three years after the previous one. David Hayton is joined in the editorial role by Paul Matthewsand Charles Mitchell. The former is responsible for preparingthe Administration of Trusts section and Charles Mitchell forpreparing the division of the book on Trusts Imposed by Lawand The Consequences of a Breach of Trust. Jonathan Harris coversthe     

Trustees beware: submit with care

The Royal Court of Jersey has recently heard an interestingapplication reported in Jersey as In the Matter of CI Law TrusteesLimited and Folio Trust Company Limited as Trustees of the FountainTrust [2005 JRC099]. The case concerned an application for directions by CI Law TrusteesLimited (the ‘Trustee’) seeking directions as tohow to respond to a judgement of the Family Division of theHigh Court of Justice in England and Wales setting aside a Jerseylaw trust (the ‘Trust’) as a sham, and orderingthe Trustee to transfer the Trust assets to the petitioner inthe English matrimonial proceedings (the ‘Wife’).     

Trustees in Cyprus regulated in 2007

Trust and company service providers in Cyprus are followingin the footsteps of their European counterparts and will toobe regulated at the beginning of 2007.     

Trustees: how exclusive are you?

There has been an important recent development for trusteesin relation to the general position on clauses which seek toexclude or restrict a trustee's liability for failure to carryout properly their duties imposed by the trust instrument orlaw¹. Such clauses, known as Trustee Exemption Clauses, canbe a complete defence, or at least a deterrent to claims inthe increasingly litigious environment in which trustees operate.This article examines the Law Commission's recommendations onexemption clauses applicable in England and Wales.     

Trustees in bankruptcy may upset divorce settlements

A recent case has highlighted the ability of a former spouseto put in jeopardy by going bankrupt the sealed financial disputeresolution order of the divorce court.     

我国受托人权力制度之思考

与早期信托法制相比,英美现代信托的功能和信托法的价值取向已经发生很大变化,因而受托人权力也有了很大扩张。我国现行《信托法》受托人权力制度存在重义务轻权力之弊端,它缘于重安全轻效率的价值误区和重负面轻正面的认识误区。其建设方向是走出认识误区,更新价值观念;重视受托人地位,强化受托人权力;借鉴日韩经验,加大移植力度。     

Trustees versus fiscal agents and default risk in international sovereign bonds

Over the last 10?years, organisations such as the IMF have launched several initiatives to change market practice with respect to sovereign bond contract drafting to ease restructuring after defaults. The first of these, the universal adoption of collective action clauses, was embraced by the market after some hesitation. Another proposal??the more widespread appointment of trustees to represent bondholders in times of crisis, to centralise enforcement action against the debtor and thus to facilitate debt relief??has so far failed to have the desired impact. Amongst other potential reasons for this failure, the argument has been made that to vest enforcement rights in the trustee, as opposed to individual bondholder rights, would be to reduce the deterrence against opportunistic defaults and thus to exacerbate moral hazard. Using a sample of secondary market bond spreads and information on default status, this paper assesses empirically whether sovereign bonds issued under a trust structure indeed carry a higher default risk. It finds no systematic evidence of either a spread premium or higher actual default rates for bonds with collective enforcement rights.     

Trusts & Trustees, 2009, Vol 15, No 1

From opposite sides of the legal profession, and from oppositesides of the world, we began 2008 as editorial greenhorns. Althoughreasonably long in the tooth as trust lawyers, and as text bookauthors, we have come to understand and appreciate a great dealthat previously we had taken for granted. In "Winston Churchill as Historian", in Louis (ed) Adventureswith Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain(1995), 47, Lord Blake recorded the great man as having describedcultured people as "merely the glittering scum which floatsupon the deep river of production." Most trust lawyers are     

公益法人董事薪酬控制研究

公益法人的本质决定了对其董事薪酬实施控制的必要性。目前各国立法对董事薪酬的调整模式主要有三种类型：所有董事一律不得领取薪酬、可以获得相应报酬以及区分专兼职董事实施不同的薪酬政策。总的来看,董事领取合理报酬是董事薪酬立法的主要方向。合理薪酬的决定主体为公益法人权力机构,对于专职董事和兼职董事给予标准不同的薪酬,董事补偿并不必然受制于董事薪酬。     

Hostile claims by beneficiaries--the burden of costs: Close Trustees (Switzerland) SA v Vildosola

Trustees were incurring significant costs in defending hostileproceedings brought against them by the life tenant of the trust.To ensure that they would ultimately be able to reimburse themselvesout of income, the trustees proposed to retain part of futureincome to form reserve fund, but the Court was not preparedto sanction that proposal. The most significant aspect of thiscase was the Court's analysis of what principles might ultimatelybe applied to determine whether income or capital would bearthe costs of indemnifying the trustees.     

“自治”抑或“他治”?——民国时期公立大学董事会制度性质的历史考察

民国公立大学董事会制度出现于北洋军阀政府时期,是对以"大学自治"为核心理念的美国大学董事会制度的效仿。民国公立大学董事会制度从形成动因、校董人选、职权变化、决策程序等方面均体现出明显的"中国化"特征。而"中国化"特征的背后,是政治环境、制度环境、文化环境等外部环境共同作用的必然,这也导致了民国公立大学董事会制度在运作和决策中难以呈现出美国大学董事会制度的自治特征。然而,民国公立大学董事会制度依然不失为社会多元化、民主化参与大学治理的一种艰涩的教育实践。