Bermuda's trust industry has a remarkably light touch when it comes to regulation, practitioners said, but that does not mean a visit from the Bermuda Monetary Authority is free of stress.

“In Bermuda, there are just shy of 30 licensed trust companies. And it’s effectively those licensed trust companies that the BMA is regulating under the 2001 Trusts Act,” explained Keith Robinson, partner at Carey Olsen Bermuda, speaking at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Bermuda Conference 2025.

He went on to note: “My mother was a school inspector and teachers [were] terrified of the school inspector coming. And when I think about that, I sometimes think that must be what it’s like when the BMA phone up and say, we’re coming for our on-site.”

He clarified: “It’s never pleasant to be supervised by somebody in the room who’s got that power over you. So I don’t mean in a derogatory way at all, just simply to say it’s not necessarily the best day of the year when the regulator is coming.”

However, despite the BMA’s “very extensive regulatory powers over licensed trust companies”, enforcement is rare.

“From 2016 through to today, there only are 46 actions that the BMA have publicly announced, and only three of those are in respect of licensed trust companies. So over a ten-year period, that's sort of a once every three or four years,” he said.

Mr Robinson also highlighted: “The tribunal system, which is in place under the 2001 Act to allow trust companies who want to challenge the [BMA] from regulatory action,” he said. “As far as I'm aware, there are no published regulatory decisions by that tribunal.”

The lack of precedent in Bermuda makes it difficult for litigation lawyers to advise clients based on past cases, Mr Robinson explained.

Mr Robinson also pointed out that Bermuda’s regulatory code lagged behind recent legislative changes, especially around impact investing, meaning investing that seeks to create positive social and environmental effects. The current code, he said, “is not up to date, because times have moved on, as our legislation has shown”.

For practitioners, this makes staying compliant more challenging, as Guy Wilkes, partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP in the United Kingdom, explained: “There are unwritten rules, there are unwritten expectations, and you can only understand that by getting out in industry [and] speaking to the regulators.”

He also noted: “All regulators will want to have public outcomes. The degree of transparency can differ throughout jurisdictions.”

As Bermuda trust clients and companies look to the future, he said, these unique regulatory realities warrant ongoing attention.