Cheryl Howard is a Chartered Accountant with over 35 years’ experience in tax, fiduciary services and family office management for high-net-worth families. She trained at Deloitte, founded Talaria Wealth and later served as Managing Director of Maitland Fiduciary Limited. She now practises independently, specialising in estate planning, trust administration and cross-border tax planning, and runs Four & Twenty, her accounting practice. She is passionate about mentoring professionals and developing
diverse teams.
CA(SA) · Fiduciary, Tax and Family Office Specialist
The programme is delivered over two separate online webinar days of 3 hours each.
Each day combines statutory explanation, presenter-led practical demonstrations, file
checklists and worked examples. The programme assumes that attendees already
understand basic trust concepts, but require a structured working knowledge of trustee
authority, trust instrument review, beneficiary administration, asset records, accounting
and tax coordination, Mauritius Trusts Act 2001 considerations, qualified trustee
requirements, beneficial ownership information, AML/KYC requirements and practical file
review standards.
As the delivery is online, participant involvement is kept limited. The presenter works through the practical applications and explains the reasoning, documentation require-
ments and escalation points.
By the end of the two webinars, attendees should have been taken through how to review
a trust administration file at a practical level, identify the governing trust instrument and
relevant statutory requirements, distinguish trustee decisions from administrative support functions, recognise when trustee resolutions or protector approvals are required,
maintain beneficiary and beneficial ownership records, collect source documents for
asset and accounting records, identify tax and reporting touchpoints, and escalate
higher-risk matters such as cross-border distributions, related-party loans, missing trustee authority, incomplete AML/KYC information, or uncertain Mauritius tax and regulatory treatment.
The programme is aligned to the practical administration environment for Mauritius trusts and supports awareness of statutory, fiduciary, governance and compliance expecta-
tions. The content refers to the Mauritius Trusts Act 2001, qualified trustee considerations, trustee duties, financial services compliance expectations, AML/KYC controls, beneficial ownership information, CRS/FATCA awareness, accounting and reporting coordination, and escalation of matters requiring trustee, legal, tax, regulatory or specialist input. The programme is not intended to replace legal, tax or regulatory advice.
Role of the trust administrator; difference between trustee decision-making and
administrative implementation; overview of risks in trust administration.
Nature of an inter vivos trust and key role players
Settlor, trustees, beneficiaries, protector, enforcer, qualified trustee, managing trustee,
custodian trustee, administrator, accountant and tax adviser. Distinction between
discretionary, fixed interest, charitable and purpose trusts.
Statutory framework and trust instrument
Trust instrument as the governing document; statutory recognition of trusts under the
Mauritius Trusts Act 2001; trust property held by trustees under fiduciary obligations;
duration, beneficiary clauses, trustee powers, protector powers and governing law
clauses.
Trustee appointment, authority and resolutions
Appointment, acceptance, resignation or removal of trustees; number of trustees;
requirement for at least one qualified trustee in a Mauritius trust where applicable;
when trustee resolutions, minutes, protector consent or written approvals are required.
Minimum file opening requirements
Trust instrument, trustee acceptance records, identity documents, proof of address,
contact records, beneficial ownership information, AML/KYC records, source of funds
source of wealth indicators, trustee registers, beneficiary schedules and service
provider records.
Confidentiality, record-keeping and Day 1 consolidation
Confidentiality obligations, document retention, audit trail, separation of trust property,
recognising sham or excessive settlor control risk, and administrator escalation duties.
Day 1 establishes the statutory and governance foundation for Mauritius trust
administration. The presenter works through the trust instrument, trustee roles, qualified
trustee considerations, trustee authority, file-opening requirements, AML/KYC records,
beneficial ownership information and basic record-keeping controls. The day is
intended to help attendees understand what must be present on a compliant trust
administration file, how trustee authority should be evidenced, and when a matter
should be escalated for trustee, legal, regulatory or tax input.
Practical day-to-day administration after onboarding, including beneficiary records,
distributions, asset movements, accounting and tax coordination, regulatory
compliance, CRS/FATCA awareness, beneficial ownership maintenance and file
review readiness.
Recap and practical administration cycle
Annual trust administration cycle; interaction between trustee decisions, accounting
records, tax deadlines, compliance reviews and beneficiary communication.
Beneficiary administration
Beneficiary classes, vested and discretionary rights, communication protocols,
confidentiality, minor or deceased beneficiaries, changes in beneficiary details and
information requests.
Distributions, vesting and trustee records
Trustee approval requirements, resolutions, vesting decisions, income versus capital
distributions, cross-border beneficiary considerations, tax/accounting input and proof
of payment records.
Asset and liability administration
Trust bank accounts, investments, immovable property, business interests, loan
accounts, related-party balances, asset acquisitions, disposals, valuations and
separation of trust property from personal assets.
Tax, accounting and reporting coordination
Source documents for annual financial statements, income, capital gains, distributions,
retained income, Mauritius resident and non-resident trust considerations, MRA filing
awareness, CRS/FATCA reporting, and when specialist tax advice is required.
Compliance review and escalation
Beneficial ownership updates, AML/KYC refresh, source of funds/source of wealth
records, compliance calendars, unresolved queries, high-risk transactions and file
readiness for trustee, qualified trustee, regulatory or tax review.
Day 2 focuses on the practical administration of an established Mauritius trust.
The presenter works through beneficiary administration, distribution requests,
trustee resolutions, asset and liability records, accounting and tax coordination,
regulatory touchpoints, CRS/FATCA awareness, AML/KYC refresh requirements and file
review readiness. The day is intended to show how administrators should maintain
an organised administration file, support trustee decision-making, identify missing
documents, and recognise higher-risk matters requiring escalation.
Qualified trustee requirement: identification of whether a Mauritius trust requires at
least one qualified trustee authorised by the Financial Services Commission and
verification of current trustee status.
Fiduciary duties: administrator awareness of duties relating to trust property, joint
action by trustees, impartiality, proper exercise of trustee powers and documentary
evidence of trustee decisions.
Beneficial ownership and AML/KYC: collection and maintenance of identity
information, proof of address, source of funds/source of wealth indicators, beneficial
ownership records and periodic refresh requirements.
Tax and reporting coordination: awareness of Mauritius Revenue Authority filing
requirements, resident and non-resident trust distinctions, distributions, retained
income, cross-border reporting, CRS/FATCA and escalation for specialist tax advice.
Record-keeping: trust deed, resolutions, minutes, trustee registers, beneficiary
schedules, asset registers, accounting source documents, tax schedules,
correspondence, compliance checklists and audit trail.