On the 12th of December, 2011 the Bahamas witnessed the first step in making the proposed Executive Entities Bill, 2010 as members of the House of Assembly approved a series of Bills that will benefit the nation’s financial service sector. The new law, once passed by the Senate, will establish the foundation for the incorporation and legal recognition of the ‘Executive Entity’ a new financial service product that demonstrates the nation’s innovation and commitment to maintaining its standard in corporate governance values, according to legal representatives of Lex Justis, a Bahamian based law firm.
Within the first quarter of 2012, legal representatives of Lex Justis are eager to provide the incorporation of ‘Executive Entities’ as part of its catalog of corporate services. The provision of this new financial service product will be made possible by the passage of the new Executive Entities Bill, 2010 into law.
As stated in the Executive Entities Bill, 2010 the overall objective of this new legislation is to provide the basis for the establishment of the Executive Entity as a vehicle to carry out executive functions in wealth preservation structures such as Purpose Trusts, Foundations, and Private Trust Companies. Executive Entities are defined by the Bill as legal entities established by a Charter to perform only executive functions set out in its Articles and has its registered office within the Bahamian jurisdiction. All Executive Entities will be required to be registered in order to become a recognized legal entity as demonstrated by the provision of Certificate of Registration.
The Executive Entities Bill, 2010 also calls for the name of the Executive Entity to end with the words “Executive Entity” or the abbreviation “EE” or “E.E” as the last two words of the name. The Bill restricted from including the names of traditional structures such as “Bank”, “Co-operative”, “Building Society”, “Insurance”, “Stock Exchange”, “Foundation”, or “Trust” or the abbreviation thereof.
“Just like any other corporate entity, Executive Entities will be able to sue be sued in their own names,” according to Attorney Mario McCartney, Principal of LEX JUSTIS, Counsel & Attorneys -at- Law. “Those individuals or entities who serve as officers or council members will be able to enjoy the benefits of limited liability while overseeing the activities of the wealth management structure.”
According to Attorney McCartney, Executive Entities may be utilized for a number of primary or supplementary purposes, ranging from serving as a protector or enforcement arm of a trust, a shareholder or investment advisor of a private trust company, or other functions that are executive, administrative, fiduciary, or office holding in nature. Although similar to a Bahamian Foundation, Attorney McCartney also confirmed that the Executive Entity differs substantially in that it is designed specifically to carry out executive functions and not to profit beneficiaries or for other wider purposes such as charities or educational scholarship program Executive Entities have no beneficiaries and only hold such assets reasonably required to carry out its executive functions.
“The key advantage of this new vehicle is the ability of the client to get a steady grip on the administration and security of his wealth by establishing an Executive Entity as its Founder and can appoint himself as an officer or council member or other individuals whom he can depend on to watch over his interests,” says Attorney McCartney. “Clients can now enjoy the benefit of having those he can rely on, administer his wealth even after death, without the fear of family bickering or other personal conflicts derailing his final bestowment. The Executive Entity vehicle is as close as you can get to engaging in the affairs a traditional Purpose Trust structure or other wealth management vehicle without breaching its legal and fundamental principles.”
Source: PRWeb
