Fiduciary Mandates with Registration

The fiduciary registration is the legal instrument that allows the formal ownership and administration of assets to be transferred from an individual or entity (the Client) to a fiduciary (the fiduciary company). The fiduciary company operates in its own name but on behalf of the Client, who retains substantial ownership of the assets administered.

The fiduciary company:

  • operates on the administered assets only upon written instructions from the Client (or their proxy)
  • channels any outgoing and incoming financial flows connected to the administered assets
  • calculates and processes, where applicable, the withholding taxes or substitute taxes provided for by the tax law on income deriving from the activities covered by the fiduciary relationship
  • performs the necessary communications to the Italian Tax Authorities
  • performs its administrative duties only if sufficient funds are provided by the Client

Shares or shares in joint-stock companies under Italian law and bond loans

Shares or shares of joint-stock companies under Italian law

In the name of the fiduciary company but on behalf of the Client: registration of joint-stock shares or shares of limited liability companies, subscription of capital increases, execution and collection of reimbursements of shareholder loans.

By virtue of the fiduciary mandate, the Client attains privacy in the Company Register or in the shareholders’ register.

Fiduciary registration of bond loans

Subscription of bond loans in the name of the fiduciary company on behalf of the Client.

By virtue of the fiduciary mandate, the Client attains privacy from the company issuing the bond loan.

Financial instruments, Italian and non-Italian liquidity and securities accounts and insurance policies

Financial instruments, Italian and non-Italian liquidity and securities accounts and insurance policies

Tax consolidation: as part of the tax agent activity carried out by the fiduciary company, set-off of capital gains/losses on financial instruments held at different financial intermediaries.

Exemption from the obligation for Italian tax residents to declare financial assets (and related inflows and outflows) held outside of Italy and non-Italian insurance policies, in the ‘RW section’ and other related sections of the Italian tax return.

Exemption from Swiss trading tax.

In the particular case of accounts held in Switzerland, a client of an Italian static fiduciary who trades on securities that are subject to the local trading tax is exempted from paying his share (50%) of it:

  • 1.5 ‰ ÷ 2 = 7.5 basis points per transaction on securities of Swiss issuers;
  • 3.0 ‰ ÷ 2 = 15 basis points per transaction on securities of non-Swiss issuers.

This is an obvious benefit which is more and more pronounced as portfolio turnover increases. In some cases, the resulting money saving can more than offset the annual costs of the fiduciary mandate.

Administrative power of attorney.

As opposed to the majority of the Italian fiduciary companies, Unione Fiduciaria allows its clients to be entrusted with an administrative power of attorney. The administrative power of attorney is a limited one (no withdrawals of liquidity are allowed) and consists in a contractual addendum in virtue of which a client of the fiduciary company may give buy and sell orders on financial instruments directly to the custodian bank.

The administrative power of attorney significantly increases operational fluidity and executional speed since it allows to avoid the typical “client-fiduciary-bank” triangulation in the placement of the orders.

Non-Italian insurance policies

Subscription in the name of the fiduciary company but on behalf of the Client of insurance policies issued by non-Italian Insurance companies.

Channeling of outgoing and incoming financial flows connected to the policy.

Where applicable and subject to the provision of funds, fulfillment of all tax obligations connected to the policies.

Exemption from the obligation for Italian tax residents to declare non-Italian insurance policies (and related inflows and outflows) in the ‘RW section’ and other related sections of the Italian tax return.

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