The Business Registration Services (BRS) on the 3^rd of June 2024 formally commenced processing applications relating to family, charitable and non-charitable trusts. This is in the wake of the enactment of the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment Act), 2024 which transferred this function from the Principal Registrar appointed under the Registration of Documents Act to the Registrar of Companies under the Companies Act 2015. The online registration system on BRS has been expanded to accommodate applications relating to trusts under the Manual Services platform.

The appointment and removal of trustees are now lodged by filling out an online form. Previously, amendments to the trustees’ register were done by lodging an application at the Lands’ Registry via Form LRA 51 prescribed by the Land Registration (General) Regulations 2017.

The following details must be provided when completing this form:

1. The names of the incoming and outgoing Trustee(s)
2. Postal address
3. Identification information (Identity Card Number or Passport Number)
4. Telephone number
5. Email address

The online application must be supported by:

1. Minutes of the board of Trustees approving the appointment and removal of the trustee
2. The trust’s certificate of incorporation
3. Passport size photographs
4. An application for the recording of a certificate of appointment of new trustees (Form B) duly stamped for duty

Form B is a versatile document, serving both to appoint and remove a trustee, even though its heading only mentions appointments. The design of the form assumes that an appointment of a trustee is done to replace an outgoing one.  However, the appointment or removal of a trustee in some instances may be necessitated by changes made to a trust’s constitution to increase or reduce the number of trustees. This is due to the growing need for expert professional trustees to handle complex legal, tax, investment and regulatory challenges. As a result, trusts frequently restructure their boards to adapt to the evolving demands of the trust industry.

To avoid confusion, Form B should be expanded to include two more sections. One for appointments only and another solely for removals. Alternatively, BRS can consider adding two extra forms to accommodate the two scenarios.  In the meantime, one can still apply solely for the removal or appointment of a trustee by simply filling in a portion of Form B and leaving the non-essential part blank.