Schedule 2022

Would you like to be in the middle of the Bay, watching the sunset? Looking for a spectacular view of the ocean? Are you excited to get reacquainted with colleagues from around the world? If you answered “yes” to any or all of the above, come join us for our Meet and Greet Cocktail Reception, at the Hilton Panama Infinity Room. This is a magnificent way to kick off STEP LatAm Conference 2022!

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Join our panel for an in-depth discussion on the myriad ways to structure LatAm investments, including current challenges, case law and substance requirements. The panel will also discuss real-time cases of families who have been subjected to expropriation measures and their personal experiences in litigating these cases.

Some jurisdictions have created legislation that governs digital assets including creation and minting of crypto, crypto exchanges as trading platforms, NFT’s, etc. This is a rapidly growing market and will fundamentally change the future of transaction platforms and the essence of doing business. The Attorney General will explain what the Bahamas has done in this space with it’s introduction of The Bahamas Digital Assets And Registered Exchanges Act, 2020 (the “DARE Act”) as well touching on how other jurisdictions have considered digital asset legislation.

Beneficial Ownership Registers are increasingly being implemented in several jurisdictions including Mexico, Colombia, and Panama. Our learned speaker will discuss their effectiveness and their interaction with taxpayer rights and safeguards.

LatAm families have been utilizing trusts for wealth structuring for decades and are increasingly doing so in these turbulent times. However, there is a lack of understanding about how common law courts would view issues such as forced heirship. Simon Beck will review the issues and how these courts have dealt with them in the past and will likely deal with them in the future.

In this two part presentation, the first panel will discuss the effect of the U.S. Corporate Transparency Act on the decision of Latin American families who wish to  migrate to the U.S. based on the importance of the confidentiality of their holdings. And for those who still decide to move to the U.S. after careful review, the panel will review practical issues regarding termination of residence in the country of origin and preimmigration planning, including the need to re-structure investment portfolios.

Creating an estate plan that includes the administration and devolution of cryptoassets can involve complex financial structures and requires some familiarity with the technological processes that frame the relevant systems. The level of familiarity required ranges from a complete understanding of the digital mechanisms involved to a grasp of the basic ideas so you can ask an expert the right questions and apply their responses when formulating the estate plan. Still with us?

A recent report describes the LatAm region as “the most unequal in the world in terms of revenue distribution” with a “very high concentration of wealth and income”. The increase in poverty and the larger gap between rich and poor created by the pandemic have led to many countries in LatAm considering the idea of taxing wealth. Some have already adopted a wealth tax, while others have attempted to do so.

Sponsorship draw & 2023 location announcement.

Against the background of the major breaches of cybersecurity that have already occurred in the past few years and the near certainty that such breaches will continue, this diverse panel of speakers will take a deep dive into how gatekeepers and families should mitigate the negative impacts of their private structures becoming public. From forward planning to messaging architecture at the ready, what are the cutting-edge measures for avoiding such breaches and what needs to happen once the dam has been breached.

 Update from STEP Head Office.

Trust law has its foundations in England in the Middle Ages, but nowadays by far the most innovative trust-related legislation is to be found on the statute books of the leading international finance centres such as the BVI. Chris McKenzie, a partner at O’Neal Webster, will look at these legislative provisions and how they meet the legitimate expectations of international clients.

“The lamps are going out all over Europe” famously remarked Sir Edward Grey on the eve of World War I. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, countries throughout the world have imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs and others. Nichola Dunkley, will take delegates through the practical steps which a trustee should consider taking, for both its own protection and to ensure that it can continue to comply with its fiduciary duties without breaking the law, if the settlor, protector or beneficiary appears on a sanctions list. In particular, she will demonstrate an effective solution to help with practical navigation using a recent case study.

Welcome to the age of the digital family and the global nomad. Triggered by these developments, jurisdictions are now updating their laws to enable electronic audits, issue electronic tax assessments and much, much more. New treaties now enable international tax collection, in such a way that changing tax residence to theoretically escape from tax contingencies/tax disputes is no longer an option.

The trust has traditionally been regarded as the safest instrument for successful transactions, but it now appears that the emergence of new technologies in the business legal sphere could call into question trust effectiveness in the “paper world”. Trustees now have the challenge of combining innovation with experience and tradition in order to effectively service clients, stay abreast of technology and ensure their place as valuable service providers.

The STEP LatAm Presenting and Gala Dinner sponsor, The Bahamas Ministry of Economic Affairs / Financial Services Unit, invites you to visit a lovingly restored landmark building in Casco Viejo, the American Trade Hotel. The hotel stands at the ecological and cultural crossroads of the Americas, deeply connected to both the historical Old Quarter and the nascent new Panama City. You will enjoy an evening of cultural entertainment, scrumptious cuisine, live Panamanian music and dancing. The Gala will be held at the American Trade Hotel and Hall in Panama City's Old Quarter.