Abu Dhabi's international financial centre grew assets under management by 54 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026. Dubai is growing on a similar track. The interesting question is not which centre wins.
• ADGM now hosts 190 fund and asset managers, up 23 per cent, with funds managed from the centre up 32 per cent to 276. Managers arriving in the first half collectively oversee more than $2.1 trillion globally.
• Dubai's DIFC reported 10,018 active registered companies, up 30 per cent year on year, including 592 wealth and asset management firms.
• Context matters. Boston Consulting Group ranks the Emirates collectively as the world's seventh-largest cross-border hub, while Hong Kong has been identified as moving to the top of that same ranking. This is growth that adds to the map rather than redrawing it.
• At FGA Trust, we read this as confirmation that families are multi-jurisdictional by default. Assets in one place, the business in another, beneficiaries somewhere else again.
• That shifts the real question onto how your structures interact: is substance genuinely met in each location, are reporting obligations mapped, and does the governance still work when family and assets sit under different legal systems? Hong Kong's depth of legal and professional infrastructure is exactly what makes administering that complexity possible.
Full Article on our LinkedIn 🔗
Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming Metta World Peace to the FGA Trust office! It was wonderful spending time together, exchanging ideas, and enjoying a warm and engaging conversation.
Thank you, Metta, for visiting us and making the occasion so memorable. We truly enjoyed having you with us and look forward to staying connected.🏀
#FGATrust #MettaWorldPeace #HongKong #MeaningfulConnections #TrustAndLegacy
Hong Kong’s 2026 Policy Address elevates the city’s gold-market strategy from trading activity to a full ecosystem spanning clearing, physical delivery, vaulting, insurance, risk management and tokenisation. The central clearing and settlement system for gold is scheduled for official launch in the first quarter of 2027, alongside further development of RMB-denominated, physically settled gold futures and related market infrastructure.
FGA Trust believes that gold should not only be owned; it should be governed. Clear title, verifiable bar and custody records, adequate insurance, defined instruction rights, and intergenerational beneficiary arrangements are all essential.
We will continue exploring how physical gold may be incorporated into a transparent and sustainable trust-governance framework through appropriately qualified market participants.
"For general information only; not investment, legal or tax advice or a product solicitation."
#FGATrust #HongKong #WealthManagement #Gold #Policy
🔊 Our latest Legacy Lounge is here!
In this episode, we sit down with Andy Ann, a serial entrepreneur and the visionary force behind some of Asia’s most disruptive tech ventures. While he is renowned for founding the digital marketing powerhouse NDN Group, Andy’s story is deeply rooted in a different kind of blueprint: the resilience and foresight of his family. He represents a modern chapter in a narrative that spans from the vibrant streets of Hong Kong to the global stage of innovation.
As a key figure navigating the intersection of tradition and transformation, Andy offers a unique perspective on redefining inheritance for the digital age.
Join us as we discuss the weight of history, the intricate challenges of pivoting a family's trajectory, and how a new generation is building a legacy not just of wealth, but of relevance in a rapidly changing world.
Full Episode👉https://t.co/Elj1kJA7Xy
#fgatrust #hongkong #podcast #wealthmanagement #legacy
Changing where you live can be a taxable event in its own right. Exit taxes work very differently from one jurisdiction to the next, and the gaps are wider than most people expect.
• There is no single model. Some countries treat departure as a deemed disposal of worldwide assets at market value. Others target only substantial shareholdings or particular asset classes.
• Canada, Australia and South Africa apply a deemed disposal on leaving, but also rebase assets to market value on arrival, so only gains built up while resident are caught. That symmetry can transform the final bill.
• France and Germany do not rebase. France can charge securities worth at least €800,000 after six of the last ten years of residence; Germany targets holders of at least 1 per cent of a company. Both apply to the full latent gain at departure.
• The US taxes citizens wherever they live, with a separate mark-to-market regime for those giving up citizenship above $2 million net worth.
• At FGA Trust, two things stand out. Timing matters: when residence starts and ends relative to a sale can change everything. And trusts have their own exposure, since some jurisdictions tax structures on exit even where individuals are untouched. Plan the move long before you make it.
Full Article on our LinkedIn 🔗
#ExitTax #CrossBorder #WealthStructuring #Relocation #FGATrust
FGA Trust expands its footprint to Tokyo🗼東京の皆様、こんにちは。FGA Trustが正式に日本に進出しました!
We are excited to announce the opening of our new Representative Office in Tokyo. This strategic expansion reinforces our commitment to providing dedicated, on-the-ground support for clients navigating the complexities of cross-border wealth management between Japan and Hong Kong.
この度、東京に新たな駐在員事務所を開設いたしましたことをお知らせいたします。この戦略的な事業拡大は、日本と香港間の複雑なクロスボーダー資産管理において、お客様に対し、現地で献身的なサポートを提供するという当社の取り組みをさらに強化するものです。
We are delighted to welcome Mone Ota as FGA Trust Japan Representative to lead our efforts in this dynamic market. Based in Tokyo, Ms. Ota will play a vital role in connecting high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutional investors in Japan with our world-class wealth management and fiduciary services, headquartered in Hong Kong.
このダイナミックな市場での取り組みをリードするため、太田望音(Mone Ota)をFGA Trust日本代表として迎えることができ、嬉しく思います。東京を拠点とする太田は、日本の富裕層、ファミリー、機関投資家の皆様を、香港に本社を置く当社の世界クラスのウェルスマネジメントおよびフィデューシャリー・サービスに結びつける重要な役割を担います。
Whether you are looking to establish a presence in Hong Kong or manage multi-jurisdictional assets, our team is now ready to support your needs directly from Japan.
香港への進出をお考えの方も、複数の法域にまたがる資産の管理をお考えの方も、当社のチームは日本から直接お客様のニーズをサポートする準備が整っております。
Click here for more info 👉https://t.co/XJDxQdAQzR
#FGATrust #WealthManagement #FamilyOffice #TrustServices #FinTech #Tokyo #Japan #BusinessExpansion #LegacyPlanning #GlobalWealth #FGATrust #ウェルスマネジメント #ファミリーオフィス #信託サービス #フィンテック #東京 #日本 #ビジネス展開 #レガシープランニング #グローバルウェルス
AI is moving into the heart of family office operations. The opportunity is real, but so is the risk to the one thing family offices cannot afford to lose: confidentiality.
• Used well, AI can streamline lean teams, sharpen decisions and cut through fragmented information. But a white paper from an international law firm warns the real question is no longer whether AI helps; it is how to capture that help within a controlled, risk-aligned framework.
• The risks are easy to miss. AI can produce confidently wrong answers, encourage teams to over-rely on them, and quietly expose sensitive family data through externally hosted tools, often with no obvious breach to detect.
• Family offices are prime targets. Concentrated wealth, sensitive multi-generational data and lean teams attract bad actors who now use AI to build convincing impersonations, voice clones and deep fakes. The threat is as much human as technical.
• The answer is governance, not avoidance: know where AI is used, classify it by risk, set clear rules, check your vendors, and keep human oversight and accountability at the centre of every important decision.
• At FGA Trust, this is familiar ground. The disciplines that support responsible AI use — clear guardrails, documented oversight and accountability assigned to identified decision-makers — are closely aligned with sound trust and family governance. Technology should operate within that framework, not replace it.
Full Article on our LinkedIn 🔗
#FamilyOffice #AIGovernance #Confidentiality #WealthStructuring #RiskManagement
China has, for the first time, set out a comprehensive framework for how individual income tax applies to its tax residents in connection with offshore trusts. For families with cross-border structures, this is one of the most consequential changes in Asian private wealth planning in years.
• Announced on 24 July 2026, the framework adopts a tax-attribution approach to offshore trusts and specified underlying entities. For resident-funded trusts, tax may arise when property is contributed, annually on trust income regardless of distribution, and on termination; different rules apply to nonresident-funded structures and distributions to Chinese tax residents.
• The scope is wide. An offshore trust includes trusts established under foreign law and certain other offshore arrangements with trust-like functions. The rules may apply to Chinese-resident contributors, nonresidents contributing China-source property, structures where contributed property is in fact controlled by a Chinese resident, and actual or deemed distributions to Chinese tax residents.
• What matters is who actually contributed the property, not whose name appears on the deed. Those who fund, bear the cost of, or control assets transferred through intermediaries may be treated as the contributor, and foreign nationality or residency abroad does not automatically place someone outside the rules.
• There is a 90-day statutory window for specified historical liabilities. The covered periods differ depending on whether the trust was resident-funded or nonresident-funded and on the type of income involved; timely filing and payment avoids late-payment surcharges, but this should not be treated as a blanket amnesty.
• At FGA Trust, we read this as an evolution, not an ending. Offshore trustees have long worked alongside high-tax jurisdictions such as the US and UK, and properly built structures continue to serve real purposes in succession, governance and asset protection. What rises in value is the discipline behind them: clear records of who contributed what, careful documentation, and structures designed to be explained. If you hold an existing arrangement, review it now with qualified PRC tax advisers alongside your offshore counsel.
Full Article on our LinkedIn 🔗
#China #OffshoreTrusts #TrustPlanning #CrossBorder #Succession #TaxCompliance #WealthStructuring #UHNWI #AsiaWealth #PrivateWealth #FGATrust
Hong Kong’s proposed “Big Bang” tax reform — what it means for trust and fiduciary services.
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2026 proposes a 0% effective tax rate on carried interest and performance fees for funds, family offices, and potentially proprietary trading firms.
This will accelerate demand for:
→ FIHV (Family-owned Investment Holding Vehicle) structuring
→ Licensed trustee services for qualifying vehicles
→ Personal wealth trusts for high-earning fund managers
→ Cross-border succession planning for mobile financial talent
Hong Kong already hosts 3,384 single-family offices and has surpassed Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth centre.
As more funds and family offices establish here, the need for institutional-grade trust administration — delivered with the speed and digital experience that modern finance expects — will grow significantly.
FGA Trust is positioned at this intersection: licensed fiduciary expertise, powered by 25 years of fintech infrastructure.
We look forward to supporting the next wave of family offices and fund managers choosing Hong Kong as their home.
#FGATrust #HongKong #BigBangTaxReform #FamilyOffice #TrustServices #WealthManagement #FIHV #CarriedInterest