BoV launches new trust account
Bank of Valletta has launched a new deposit product - the BOV Trust Account. This is an innovative deposit account based on a trust. As such, the BOV Trust Account, apart from providing customers with the highest degree of discretion and...
Bank of Valletta has launched a new deposit product - the BOV Trust Account. This is an innovative deposit account based on a trust. As such, the BOV Trust Account, apart from providing customers with the highest degree of discretion and confidentiality, also doubles as a very flexible and useful estate and inheritance planning vehicle.
"By opening a BOV Trust Account, customers would not only be ensuring that their money is in safe hands but would also be benefiting from the most exacting standards in terms of discretion and confidentiality," said Paul Gauci, head of BOV's Trustee Services Unit.
"Discretion and confidentiality are key features that result from having the account opened in the name of the bank that acts as trustee and that is responsible to hold the funds for the benefit of the named beneficiaries selected by the depositor (the settlor)," explained Dr Andrew Chetcuti Ganado, legal advisor at BOV's Trustee Services Unit.
"Unlike any other bank account, upon the settlor's death, the designated beneficiary/beneficiaries of the BOV Trust Account will have immediate access to the funds in the account. As a result, this account is ideal to avoid any formal, lengthy and cumbersome succession procedures," he added.
Dr Chetcuti Ganado explained further that, unlike a will, which is, effectively, a public document, the BOV Trust Account ensures that on the settlor's death, nobody needs to know who the designated beneficiaries are and how much each beneficiary is entitled to."
Malta is rapidly establishing itself as a centre of trust administration, and BOV is clearly at the forefront of this growth, he explained.
Customers can effect deposits and withdraw from the BOV Trust Account and even change the designated beneficiary at any time without any complexities. Withdrawals are subject to a 90-day notice period. Interest will be paid once a year and currently amounts to 3.75 per cent gross per annum.
Designated beneficiaries of a BOV Trust Account may include the depositor/s himself/themselves, the surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents, nephews and nieces, siblings, partners who jointly settle, and Maltese charitable institutions as defined by the Trusts and Trustees Act.
For more information visit www.bov.com or any BOV branch or call the BOV Customer Service Centre on tel. 2131-2020.