Beneficial ownership registers were introduced in the European Union (EU) under the 4th and 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive, with the ultimate goal of promoting increased transparency in the financial markets. Nevertheless, public access to the beneficial ownership information of companies and other legal arrangements, such as trusts, raises significant issues in relation to each individual's fundamental right to privacy, and consequently many EU member states are still struggling to strike the right balance between transparency and privacy. As a result, the implementation of beneficial ownership registers has been delayed in many EU member states and different legislative choices have been made in the various jurisdictions. Since beneficial ownership registers do not only apply to entities incorporated or administered in an EU jurisdiction, but may also extend to foreign entities with some business connection to that jurisdiction, it is essential to master these differences.

This book, co-published with STEP, the world’s leading organisation for private wealth professionals, provides an in-depth analysis of the beneficial ownership registers legislation in a number of EU jurisdictions as well as in the UK, which pioneered it with the creation of its own ‘PSC Register’. It also looks at similar initiatives being experienced in some leading international financial centres as well as in the US.

It includes coverage of:

The functioning of beneficial ownership registers in selected EU jurisdictions;

The differences between the beneficial ownership registers for companies and those for trusts, which are maintained in many EU member states;

Practical comparisons on the possibility for individual beneficial owners to apply for their personal information to be withheld from public access;

The ways of complaint in case such an application is not accepted; and

Special cases such as the treatment of an EU company controlled by a trust or a foundation.

The first to comprehensively approach this topic, this title will benefit private client advisers (lawyers, notaries, accountants) and family officers whose clients have business interests in the EU. The registration of the details of beneficial owners has become a new variable to be considered in any estate planning or asset protection exercise and more generally in any circumstance where a company or any other legal arrangement is created. It is therefore essential reading for anyone involved in any of these fields.

Beneficial Ownership Registers provides detailed and up-to-date information on the reporting of ‘beneficial ownership’ of companies and trusts and sets the contemporary scene both internationally and on a country-by-country basis, with reference to European Union countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. Differences among EU member states exist although they are meant to implement the same EU directive, as the book convincingly shows, and a substantial difference also stands out between the EU and the US where the Corporate Transparency Act has approached the issue of reporting beneficial ownership of companies (though not of trusts, not a mean distinction) on a functional basis, rather than as a politically biased mission to be accomplished no matter what.
Maurizio Lupoi

The concept of beneficial ownership has become increasingly relevant in the context of numerous measures to increase transparency and disclosure, in particular by way of publicly accessible registers, such that it now extends significantly beyond its original application to anti-money laundering and ‘know your client’ compliance requirements. It is therefore important that there is a renewed focus on the legal meaning of the term so as to ensure its correct legal interpretation and application in practice. This compendium of multi-jurisdictional legal analyses is a welcome contribution to that renewed focus.
Andrew Knight

This new book is the first to offer a comprehensive review of the rules relating to the reporting of beneficial ownership of companies and trusts in fifteen different EU jurisdictions, as well as in the UK, the Crown Dependencies, the USA and Liechtenstein. It also emphasises the variation of treatment relating to public access to information on beneficial ownership of companies and, importantly, of trusts. The reader can only echo Paolo Panico’s comment that an EU regulation harmonising some of the varied national requirements would be a welcome development. But until that happens this book will be an essential source of reference for any practitioner advising on international corporate and trust structures.
Richard Pease TEP

This volume is a valuable new addition to the Globe Law and STEP stable of co-publications. The topic of beneficial ownership has been much in the public eye in recent years, prompted partly by an international drive to create greater corporate disclosure to counter money-laundering and terrorist finance, and partly by a series of exposés in the form of the Panama, Paradise and Pandora papers. Now family office advisers, law firms and accountancy practices have at their fingertips an up-to-date digest and commentary on the state of affairs prevailing in some of the world’s key jurisdictions.

Consulting editor Paolo Panico has assembled a team of experts to appraise the measures taken by the authorities in 18 different countries and three British Crown dependencies. The reader’s understanding is greatly assisted by introductory chapters which explain the history of government and supra-national [in the form of the EU] interventions, as various initiatives have evolved and with them new legislative frameworks and requirements. The direction of travel is consistent, but the interpretation and implementation of new agreements and directives varies considerably. The chapters on individual countries take a deep dive into the registration of beneficial ownership in each case, and explain how concepts such as benefit and control are variously construed.

If you are seeking a comprehensive guide to navigate you through the tricky waters of beneficial ownership, look no further.

David Molian

Dr Panico and his colleagues present a masterful survey of this difficult subject. The discussion of its history and purposes introduces detailed accounts of its application in several EU countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. The publication will be much welcomed by practitioners dealing with the affairs of international clients.
Milton Grundy

Coming to the market shortly after the deadline for the transposition of AMLD 4 and 5 into national law, this book provides not only a useful snapshot of the various approaches adopted by a number of different (current or former) EEA states, including the UK, but also of the different approach of the Crown Dependencies and the USA. In addition, the two introductory chapters explain the background to the issues which each EEA state has had to consider, how they can reach different conclusions and, together with a number of the country chapters, identify some areas where changes may yet be required.
Clive Cutbill TEP, Consultant to Withers LLP's Charities and Philanthropy Team. Independent scholar in Linguistics. Formerly partner in Withers
Trust & Trustees

Tatjana Andoljšek
Partner, OPAM LAW, Odvetniška pisarna Andoljšek d.o.o.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatjana-andoljsek-llm-cambridge-uk-mba-tep-77a80210/

Tatjana Andoljšek is the founding partner of OPAM LAW in Slovenia and Luxembourg, and a member of the Slovenia and Luxembourg Bar. She holds a Cambridge Master’s in Law and an international MBA degree.
Tatjana gained broad international legal knowledge working on commercial and IP projects for the pharmaceutical industry, including patent litigations, research, development, manufacture and sales projects, as well as various international corporate and contractual business transactions. Her position as a general counsel of a large international corporation comprised management of an extensive variety of litigation, corporate, international business commercial law, contractual, intellectual property, pharmaceutical law, regulatory consulting, compliance and EU law.
As a business attorney of choice, she focuses on legal business strategic planning, legal structuring, counselling and legal execution of business international operations of her international corporate clients and privately owned entities active in the international context. She is fluent in seven languages, including English, Italian, German and French.

Stéphanie Auféril
Partner, Arkwood
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-auf%C3%A9ril-554809/

Stéphanie Auféril advises families on all their wealth management tax matters, notably crossborder. Her expertise is particularly recognised in the following areas: French–US strategies: she assists numerous US persons with their relocation to France or investments in France, as well as French individuals relocating or investing in the United States; wealth planning via trusts for foreign families, notably US persons having French connections; and assistance to families and family businesses in their structuring, development and estate planning in a domestic and international context. Stéphanie is a member of STEP (Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners). She is an active member of the IACF Wealth Management Commission (Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux) and TIAETL (the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law). She is a regular lecturer at UNIL (Lausanne University) in the context of the master of advanced studies in international taxation (MASIT). Stéphanie is a founding partner of Arkwood SCP. She was previously principal at Baker & McKenzie in Paris, in charge of the wealth management practice.

Nuno Cunha Barnabé
Partner, Abreu Advogados
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nuno-cunha-barnab%C3%A9-0289a692/

Nuno Cunha Barnabé is a graduate of the law faculty of the University of Lisbon (1996), where he lectured in tax, public finances and economics law (1996–1999). He was a senior tax consultant formerly at Arthur Andersen Portugal (1996–2000). He is a founding judge of the Portuguese tax arbitration court (2011). Before joining Abreu in 2019, he was head of the tax practice at PLMJ and coordinator of the firm’s private clients (2000–2019). Nuno is currently a senior partner at Abreu, where he co-heads the firm’s tax practice being responsible for private clients. He has over 20 years’ experience in tax law and specialises in wealth taxation advising high-net-worth individuals, family offices, private banking and asset manager businesses in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. Nuno is a member of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) (Central London branch, 2017) and of TIAETL (The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law) (2017). He is recognised by Chambers Europe, Legal 500, Who’s Who and Best Lawyers directories as a Tier 1/leading lawyer in tax and private clients.

Jérôme Barré
Managing partner, Barré & Associés
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/j%C3%A9rome-barr%C3%A9-14956516/

After working in the legal and financial department of the Axa Group and in the tax departments of the Fédération Nationale du Crédit Agricole and the Confédération Nationale du Crédit Mutuel, Jérôme Barré joined Rothschild & Cie Banque as legal and tax director in 1992. From 1997, he created and managed the wealth and family businesses department of several international law firms, such as Arthur Andersen International and Ernst & Young. His experience in the banking and insurance sectors, as well as in public offerings, gives him a very pragmatic legal and tax background. He is also involved in tax litigation and in the management of tax audits.
Within the framework of his activities, he follows and accompanies individuals – and more particularly family groups – in a national and international environment. He is frequently involved in the transfer and restructuring of assets, for individuals or family businesses. Jérôme is a lecturer in Master II at the University of Paris IX Dauphine, the University of Paris Descartes and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris. He regularly writes articles for newspapers (Le Figaro, Les Echos etc) and specialised magazines (Gestion de Fortune, Agefi, Actifs etc). He also speaks on BFM TV (Integrale Placement) and Boursorama (Ecorama).

Luigi Belluzzo
Equity partner, Belluzzo International Partners
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigibelluzzo/

Luigi Belluzzo is a founding partner of Belluzzo International Partners, equity partner in the London firm, where he leads the Italian Desk, and chair of the board of the Swiss firm and the Italian firm, named Belluzzo Mercanti after the merger on 1 January 2021.
His expertise includes planning for high-networth individuals, trusts and family offices, with a strong emphasis on both domestic and international planning, governance and inheritance issues. Corporate taxation and reorganisation, tax litigation, structured finance and M&A complete his background as a TEP (Trust and Estate Practitioner), OECDC and ICAEW, with experience and competence particularly focused on cross-border issues across Europe. Luigi teaches at SDA Bocconi University in Milan and is a regular speaker at major conferences in Italy, the UK and internationally. He has published a significant number of works, including the Italian Guide on Estate Planning for Il Sole 24 Ore and articles for Il Sole 24 Ore and Trusts & Trustees (Oxford University Press). He is vice chair of STEP Europe and a member of the International Fiscal Association and ANCP.

Alberto Perez Cedillo
Founding partner, Alberto Perez Cedillo Spanish Lawyers and Solicitors
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alberto-perez-cedillo-497a374/

Alberto Perez Cedillo is founding partner of Alberto Perez Cedillo Spanish Lawyers and Solicitors, president of the Spanish Chapter of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a member of the Private Client Advisory Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales.
As a dually qualified Spanish abogado and English solicitor, for 20 years Alberto has been closely involved with private international law/the conflicts of law, and with a variety of international matters advising clients on international succession, cross-border inheritance and estate planning issues. He has expertise in multi-jurisdiction litigation, including forum disputes, international enforcement, international treaties and analysis of Spanish law and practice in the context of international litigation. Alberto has often appeared as an expert in European and Spanish law before the High Court of England and Wales and regularly lectures to the various professional associations to which he belongs.

Angeliki Chimona
Senior associate, Phi Lambda Law Firm
[email protected]

Angeliki Chimona is a member of the Athens Bar Association. She has been a senior associate in Phi Lambda Law Firm’s private client, tax and corporate department for over four years. She holds degrees in commercial law and Greek taxation.
Angeliki primarily focuses on corporate, commercial and civil law projects, while frequently participating in tax and commercial law seminars and conferences in order to deepen her legal skills. In addition, she has been involved in a number of wealth management projects, as well as other sophisticated tax and estate projects in both Greece and Europe.

Iskra Doukova
Senior solicitor, Macfarlanes LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iskra-doukova-46015323/

Iskra Doukova is a senior solicitor in Macfarlanes’ Private Client department. She has considerable experience of advising on a broad range of private client issues, including tax, asset structuring, estate and succession planning, wills, trusts and developing transparency initiatives, including the Common Reporting Standard automatic information exchange regime and the UK Trust Register.
Much of her work has an international dimension. She acts for high-net-worth individuals and internationally mobile families (a number of whom have no significant UK connections), as well as their advisers, family offices, charities and trustees. Iskra is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and holds the STEP Advanced Certificate in UK Tax for International Clients. She is also a member of Macfarlanes’ environmental, social and governance and sustainability working group.

George Economides
Partner, E&G Economides LLC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeeconomides01/

George Economides is a partner at E&G Economides LLC, a full service law firm based in Limassol, Cyprus. He is also the vice-chairman of Totalserve Management Limited, an awardwinning corporate, trust and tax services provider headquartered in Cyprus.
George obtained his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Westminster and subsequently gained extensive experience in accounting, auditing and tax with a leading Cyprus accountancy firm. His area of focus is tax, M&A, real estate, immigration and technology with IP & GDPR, and he is also involved in the firm’s business development, marketing and operational activities.
George is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, a member of the Individual Tax and Private Client Committee of the International Bar Association, a member of the International Tax Planning Association (ITPA) and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He has been recognised by the Legal500 and has authored various publications on consecutive occasions as regards to M&A, tax, lending and finance, and technology/digital business.

Christiane Edelhauser
Senior tax manager, KPMG Austria
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiane-edelhauser-a14b79153/

Christiane Edelhauser is senior tax manager at KPMG Vienna, Austria. She holds a law degree, is a certified compliance officer and used to hear civil and commercial law cases as a judge earlier in her career.
She also worked in compliance for an international banking group, specialising in regulatory compliance programs such as FATCA, QI and CRS. In particular, she held the position of group FATCA and QI responsible officer and led international project teams for the implementation of the OECD Common Reporting Standard. At KPMG she engages in the design, implementation and training of regulatory compliance systems, supports regulatory certification procedures including risk management and internal control systems, and reviews systems and processes for regulatory due diligence and reporting obligations, at present focusing particularly on AML/KYC – and UBO registration requirements in Austria and the European Economic Area.
As a member of an expert panel she supported the rewrite of the Austrian UBO Directive and a new UBO Guidance published by the Ministry of Finance in 2020. As a legal and compliance subject matter expert, Christiane regularly lectures at seminars and publishes specialist articles in tax magazines and legal journals.

Petros-Fotios Chr. Fatouros
Managing partner, Phi Lambda Law Firm
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/petros-fatouros-tep-95a9299/

Petros-Fotios Chr. Fatouros is a member of the Athens Bar Association, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) (UK) and various other societies and associations. He holds an LLM from Boston University School of Law in banking and financial law.
He is managing partner and head of private clients in the tax and high-net-worth individuals department of Phi Lambda Law Firm in Athens, as well as head of Phi Lambda’s multi-family office in Greece.
Petros-Fotios holds degrees in law and corporate accounting and has worked in a number of STEP derived projects and other wealth management-financed projects. In addition, he is a firm supporter and facilitator of legal pro bono work to those in need.
He leads Phi Lambda Law Firm’s team supporting sophisticated high-net-worth and ultra high-net-worth families in connection with complicated structures, demanding audits and applicable regulatory compliance. He often publishes articles in the STEP Journal, the Legal500 Comparative Guide in Private Client, the Greek Law Digest and other journals; he is also an elected member to STEP’s elected steering committee of Business Families Special Interest Group.

John Graham
Partner, Graham Smith & Partners International Tax Counsel
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-graham-9905a04/

John Graham is a partner at Graham Smith & Partners in Amsterdam. He holds degrees in commerce and fiscal economics and is a UK Chartered Accountant, registered accountant in the Netherlands and member of the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers. Areas of particular expertise include international structuring for family businesses, the tax treatment of trusts, and advising individuals moving from one country to another.
He taught international tax law and EU tax policy at the School of International Studies at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Breda. He has edited, authored and co-authored books and contributed to a number of books and looseleaf services. He has written articles on a wide range of subjects, including trusts, international social security, the EU Parent Subsidiary Directive and tax abuse by international organisations. He speaks frequently at conferences on international tax.

Štěpán Holub
Partner, Holubová advokáti s.r.o.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pravnik/

Štěpán Holub is a specialist in multi-generational planning in the Czech Republic. He has successfully advised on many international legal transactions, involving several jurisdictions. He has also successfully represented his clients in front of different courts, including senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic in front of the Constitutional Court.
Štěpán is a registered lawyer with the Czech Bar Association. He is also qualified as a mediator for business and civil disputes by the Czech Bar Association and the Brussels Bar Association. He is one of few members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) from the Czech Republic with the trust and estate practitioner’s (TEP) qualification.
Based on multiple recommendations, he has been included in the publications Chambers and Who’s Who Legal as a leading expert in the Czech Republic for the field of private clients. He speaks Czech, English, German and Swedish.

Aileen Keogan
Aileen Keogan Solicitor & Tax Consultant
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aileen-keogan-4a462415/

Aileen Keogan is the principal of the firm Aileen Keogan Solicitor & Tax Consultant, a solicitor, chartered tax adviser and Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) member. The firm is a boutique private client law firm in Ireland. Aileen has specialised in private client matters for over 25 years. Her law and tax practice focuses on succession planning for individuals and businesses both international and domestic. She also provides consultancy to professionals on estate and tax planning, trusts and capital tax issues, and acts as expert witness in complex trust and tax cases. Aileen has published widely on estate and trust planning, including The Law & Taxation of Trusts (Keogan, Mee and Wylie, Tottel 2007) and Law of Capital Acquisitions Tax, Stamp Duty and Local Property Tax (ITI annual publication). She is an elected council member of the Irish Tax Institute, a member of the Law Society of Ireland’s Probate, Administration and Trusts Committee, their representative at TALC (a liaison committee between Irish Revenue and professional bodies), and a member of STEP Ireland committee, its representative in STEP Europe and the STEP EU Public Policy Committee.

Aldona Leszczyńska-Mikulska
Partner, GWW
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aldonaleszczynska/

Before joining GWW, from 2004 until 2016 Aldona Leszczyńska-Mikulska worked for Wardynski & Partners law firm as one of the co-founders and head of its private client practice. Previously she worked for the tax departments of EY (international tax planning) and PwC (M&A). She is mainly involved in advising high-net-worth individuals in Poland, as well as family and closely held businesses. She often works closely with family offices of clients. She advises private clients and wealthy families on all matters concerning international capital structuring, and domestic and international tax planning. She has assisted clients in setting up trusts and private family foundations, as well as in resolving disputes regarding assets under the umbrella of trusts and foundations. She has taken part in many estate-planning projects and represented clients in estate, marital and family disputes. Her professional experience includes drafting and negotiating pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. She is ranked as a tier one private client lawyer in Poland by Chambers HNWI and Legal 500, has a native knowledge of Polish and is fluent in English and German.

Saskia Lust
Partner, Loyens & Loeff
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saskia-lust-1b7938a6/

Saskia Lust co-heads the Family Owned Business & Private Wealth team in the Brussels office of Loyens & Loeff. Saskia advises on wealth optimisation techniques, both domestically and internationally. She specialises in international wealth and inheritance planning and focuses both on civil and fiscal law aspects. She advises on immigration and emigration, and specifically on (re)structuring of private wealth in an international context. She is an expert in international asset structuring through holdings, foundations and trusts.
Saskia is recognised as a ‘Leading Individual in Private Wealth Law in Belgium’ (band 2) by Chambers. She is also recognised as a ‘Trust and Estate Practitioner’ (TEP), is a member of the STEP Benelux Committee, and is listed as a thought leader in ‘Private Client: Lawyers’ by Who’s Who Legal (2020). She has published articles and is a speaker at conferences on estate planning. She won the Lexology Content Marketing Awards 2019 in the category ‘Legal Influencer for Private client – Europe’.

Paul Matthams
Partner, Stonehage Fleming; Advocate (non-practising) of the Royal Court of Jersey
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-matthams-/

Paul Matthams is a partner in the family office division of financial services firm Stonehage Fleming. He joined the business in July 2018 after almost 19 years with the law firm Carey Olsen, where he was head of the trusts and the private wealth practice group of their Jersey office between 2005 and 2016. Paul is a graduate of Cambridge University and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1981. He qualified as an English solicitor in 1988 and a notary public and Jersey advocate in 2001. He is a long-standing member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Todd D Mayo
Executive director, senior wealth strategist, UBS
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmayo/

Todd D Mayo is an executive director, senior wealth strategist at UBS. He works with ultra-highnet- worth families, helping them to design and implement wealth strategies that reflect their values and goals. He helps them to create multigenerational structures for managing their wealth, fulfilling their philanthropic visions and optimising tax effects. He is the consulting editor of Private Trust Companies: A Handbook for Advisers (Globe Law and Business, 2020) and a contributing author to Advising the Wealthy Client: A Handbook for Working with the Ultra Wealthy (Globe Law and Business, 2020). He was a principal author of the New Hampshire Family Trust Company Act (which governs private trust companies) and the New Hampshire Foundation Act (which was the first act recognising civil lawtype foundations in the United States).

Johanna Niegel
Head of Russia & CIS Desk and senior client adviser, Allgemeines Treuunternehmen (ATU)
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-niegel-8340731b6/

Dr Johanna Niegel joined Allgemeines Treuunternehmen (ATU) after having worked with international law firms in Moscow, New York, Budapest and Vienna. She has specialised in international private foundations and trusts, as well as international tax.
Johanna took a doctorate in law at the University of Vienna Law School, Austria, and graduated with a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Law, New York, having obtained a Fulbright scholarship. She was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar for Superior Academic Achievement and holds the Parker School Recognition of Achievement with Honors in International and Foreign Law. More recently, she obtained an LLM in international taxation at the University of Liechtenstein. She is also a lecturer on its master’s programme in corporate, foundation and trust law. Johanna is the editor of Trusts & Trustees’ Private Foundations: A World Review and also an editor of the book Private Foundations World Survey.
Johanna is the chairman of the Vaduz Centre of Verein STEP, as well as the Verein’s current deputy chairman, and serves on the Alpine Conference Organising Committee of the Swiss & Liechtenstein STEP Federation. She was awarded the STEP Founder’s Award in 2017.

Paolo Panico
Paolo Panico’s Law Chambers; Private Trustees SA
[email protected]
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paolo-panico-7276048/

Paolo Panico is an Avocat à la Cour in Luxembourg and a Scottish solicitor. He is also a director of Private Trustees SA, an independent trust company in Luxembourg. He has an academic interest in the law of trusts and foundations and teaches courses at the University of Luxembourg and the University of Liechtenstein. He has published, amongst other works, Private Foundations, Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2014) and International Trust Laws (2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2017). Paolo is a council member and chairman of the Europe Region of STEP, deputy chairman of the International Tax Planning Association (ITPA), a member of the executive committee of the Italian Trust Society (Il Trust in Italia) and an academician of TIAETL.

Michael Petritz
Tax partner, KPMG Austria
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-petritz-154a55122/

Michael Petritz is a tax partner at KPMG and tax head of Smartstart Austria (the StartUp program of KPMG Austria). He specialises in international tax law, venture capital, M&A and high-net-worth individuals. He is a member of the tax committee of the Austrian Chamber of Public Accountants and Tax Advisers, president of STEP Austria (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and lecturer and author of (international) tax publications.

Tomasz Piejak
Attorney trainee, GWW
[email protected]

Before joining GWW in 2016, Tomasz Piejak worked for Wardynski & Partners law firm in Poland. He works with law and taxes within the framework of the practice consulting individual clients. He consults on Polish and international tax law, property protection, succession planning and inheritance. He has experience in coordinating structures and transactions extending to multiple jurisdictions, and in legal and tax advice with reference to personal and business financial standing. He has a native knowledge of Polish, and works on cases in English, French and Italian.

Edward Reed
Partner, Macfarlanes LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-reed-58703b2/

Edward Reed is an English solicitor; he advises internationally mobile families on their asset structuring, personal tax and succession planning, wills and trusts. Having been educated both in the United Kingdom and France, he has developed an affinity for civil law issues generally and their interaction with common law. He is a bilingual French speaker and fluent in Italian. With over 20 years’ experience in the field, he advises on UK immigration and nationality law. He has administrative oversight of the firm’s trust company, Embleton Trust Corporation Limited.
Edward is a contributor to or a member of the editorial board of various professional publications. He is also a member of the Law Society’s Capital Taxes Sub-Committee and a former chairman of the steering committee of the Cross-Border Estates Group of STEP, as well as a trustee of a number of charitable trusts. Edward is ranked in the UK and Global editions of the independent Chambers guide and is recognised for his foreign expertise in relation to France. He is recognised in the “Hall of Fame” for his personal tax, trusts and probate expertise in the UK Legal 500 guide.

John Riches
Founding partner, RMW Law LLP; Consultant, Withers LLP
[email protected]
https://www.rmwlaw.co.uk/people.html

John Riches works with prominent international family offices on a cross-border basis and deals with structuring for UK residents and resident non-domiciled families. He creates structures for active entrepreneurs to hold business interests and frequently advises on issues relating to the interaction of family and business governance. He is frequently listed in many publications as a leading private client adviser to international families. John has a deep interest in tax and regulatory policy and enters into regular dialogue with national and supranational bodies to represent the profession.
He has received numerous accolades over many years, including ‘Trusted Adviser of the Year’ at the 2011 STEP Private Client awards and the Spears Tax and Trust Lawyer of the Year Award 2017. He is regularly ranked in the top tier of private client lawyers globally in international directories, and is widely regarded by his peers.

Eleanor Riches-Lenaghan
Associate, RMW Law LLP
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-riches/

Eleanor Riches-Lenaghan qualified as a private client solicitor in October 2020 and is an associate in boutique private client law firm RMW Law LLP. Prior to this, Eleanor undertook her training contract at Winckworth Sherwood LLP, gaining knowledge and experience in data protection and regulation, commercial real estate and licensing, property litigation and private client. Eleanor has a particular interest in cross-border policy, writing dissertations on beneficial ownership registers and deemed domicile for her Master of Laws. Since qualification, Eleanor has undertaken significant research into international tax policy issues. She has also co-authored a chapter on “Fiscal nomads: the impact of relocation on CRS and DAC6” in Global Mobility of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (Globe Law and Business, 2021). Eleanor is in the process of obtaining her STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates.

Susanne Stauder
Salaried partner, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-susanne-stauder-352161103/

Dr Susanne Stauder is a salaried partner in the white collar and criminal compliance department of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek in Düsseldorf, Germany. She holds a degree in law and completed her doctoral thesis at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg on the topic of economic criminal law.
One focus of her work is advising large and medium-sized companies in the field of money laundering prevention. Most recently, she has been entrusted with the development of the regulatory money laundering requirements under the German Geldwäschegesetz on several occasions for financial companies and dealers in goods, and has advised Swiss banks on the implementation of and compliance with the legal regulations in connection with the prevention of money laundering within the scope of their crossborder activities. In addition, Susanne regularly advises companies in connection with their reporting obligations to the transparency register and also represents them in administrative fine proceedings before the Federal Administrative Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt). Furthermore, Susanne regularly defends executives in whitecollar crime cases and conducts internal investigations into criminal offences relevant to commercial law.
She frequently publishes articles and book contributions, especially on topics and issues in the field of money laundering prevention.

Stephanie van Gils
Associate, Loyens & Loeff
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanievangils/

Stephanie van Gils is a member of the Family Owned Business & Private Wealth team in the Brussels office of Loyens & Loeff.
Stephanie advises on wealth and inheritance planning and focuses both on civil and tax law aspects. She advises clients on the tax consequences of immigration and emigration. She also assists clients in handling tax audits and tax disputes.
Stephanie regularly publishes newsletters and articles. She also frequently gives presentations, including on the Belgian UBO register.

António Vidal
Associate lawyer, Abreu Advogados
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniofemvidal/

António Vidal has a degree in law from the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Law (2016). He has also completed his master’s degree in business law at the Portuguese Catholic University, Faculty of Law (2018).
António started his professional career as a trainee at Abreu Advogados, mostly dealing with matters related to corporate, M&A and private client law, and is currently an associate at the firm, practising mostly in corporate and M&A law since 2019, while also accompanying and practising in matters related to private clients.
He has been particularly involved in matters related to procedures for incorporating and implementing companies in Portugal, providing advice on day-to-day matters in the life of companies, mergers, acquisitions and demergers of companies, and in the interpretation and application of the ultimate beneficiary owner legislation in Portugal.
António is currently completing his LLM in international business law at the School of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University.