The Trusts Act 2019 and What Trustees Need to Know

​This paper discusses the new Trusts Act 2019 and its implications for trustees’ obligations and duties. The new Act will come into force in February 2021.  Under the new legislation, beneficiaries will have the right to access information such as the financial performance of their assets, trust distributions, and trust administration. The Act’s approach to information disclosure paves the way for increased awareness of beneficiaries’ right to be informed and hold trustees to account.  This is in-line with the transparency and accountability focus of the new Financial Advisers Amendment Act (2019), which regulates advice provided to retail investors, and increasing transparency in larger scale ‘wholesale’ investment entities, such as KiwiSaver providers and New Zealand Community Trusts. 

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