Ms Brenda McVeigh:

Ms Reynolds might know more about this because she has been directly involved in the discussions on trusts. When the Commission first came forward with proposals for the definition of a beneficial owner, we found that problematic because it deemed the trustee to be the beneficial owner. We had to point this out as it was not very sophisticated in its knowledge of common law systems and how trusts work. It had deemed trustees to be beneficial owners and we had to point out that was not possible. The definition of a beneficial owner is under discussion at the moment in the package. We have managed to get quite a lot of amendments made to the draft package to make how trusts work clearer. That will also include the definition of beneficial owners of trusts. That is being addressed at the moment.