In the last few years we have been inundated with legislation and directives imposing reporting obligations on trustees. There was the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), shortly followed by the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), and now the Trust Registration Service (TRS), which not only appears unbelievably onerous but non-compliance may also lead to fines and prosecution.

The Trust Registration Service was introduced by the EU's Fourth Money Laundering Directive (Regulations), which was implemented into UK law on 26 June 2017; it is a register to be held by HMRC containing information pertaining to trusts, their assets, and their beneficiaries.