发布时间：2019-12-23
《传承宝典》30——解决家族分歧: 顾问与受托人的不同角色(上篇)
马修(Matthew)是Stonehage Fleming集团的合伙人，负责帮助客户制定和实施计划，将他们的遗产传给下一代。他曾是一名军官，在成为职业板球运动员13年后，于2012年加入了家族企业。他曾在该公司担任多个职位，包括弗莱明媒体(Fleming Media)的执行合伙人、伊恩•弗莱明出版公司(Ian Fleming Publications)和詹姆斯•邦德企业(James Bond Enterprises)的董事。他在伊顿公学接受教育，1985年加入了皇家绿夹克军团（RGJ）。他还担任过许多外部非执行董事，包括10年的英格兰和威尔士板球委员会董事。他曾在2017年担任马利邦板球俱乐部(MCC)的主席。露西是Stonehage Fleming家族理财办公室团队的公共关系经理，与国际超高净值家族紧密合作，从日常需求到更长期的继承计划，为他们提供多方面的帮助。在加入该集团之前，露西曾在德勤家族企业咨询部门工作，专注于家族企业的治理和继任规划，此前她曾在德勤(Deloitte)的私人客户税务部门工作。在此之前，她曾在巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)从事大宗经纪业务(Prime Brokerage)。露西是一名注册会计师，曾获国际信托及地产从业员协会(STEP)颁发的“2017 ~2018年度杰出青年顾问”奖项。
萨瓦斯是英国Stonehage Fleming家族办公室集团的高级经理人。他负责许多国际高净值客户，并与他们的家族成员和顾问保持密切合作。萨瓦斯于2015年加入本集团。除了管理重要的客户关系之外，萨瓦斯还是该集团数字化论坛的重要成员，负责研究和实施数字化解决方案。萨瓦斯最近被选中加入具有开创性的“接班人咨询委员会”，其任务是围绕该集团的业务提供全新的解决方案，接受挑战和保留人才。萨瓦斯是国际信托与房地产从业者协会(STEP)的正式成员，是英格兰和威尔士特许会计师协会(ICAEW)的特许会计师，并且持有STEP协会颁发的国际客户英国税务高级证书。他拥有会计学和金融学位。在加入本集团之前，萨瓦斯是一名审计和咨询经理，曾在天职国际(Baker Tilly)的泽西岛分部和德勤的塞浦路斯分部工作。每个家族都会存在争议，有些会引起摩擦，甚至可能破坏家族关系。这种分歧是生活的一部分，往往会随着时间的推移而消失，但偶尔也会变得根深蒂固，对家族活力、家族财富和家族遗产产生长期影响。当这些分歧影响到有关家族财富管理的关键决策时，由于受托人和顾问的具体决策或咨询作用以及他们与家族成员的关系，他们往往以各种形式参与其中。但在这种情况下，受托人或顾问的责任是什么？目标是什么？方法是什么？又应该如何开始？
分歧的性质
第一步是试着去理解谁和谁的意见不一致，关于什么，为了什么？这可能比乍一看时要困难得多。许多家族都知道：显然，存在争议的问题，可能只是根深蒂固之分歧的最近表现，因此，对具体问题进行冷静和理性的辩论可能并不容易。情况可能会更加复杂，因为由于各自的职业背景、教育程度或商业头脑，有些当事方比其他当事方对于争端事项有着更好的了解。在弥合这类理解上的差距方面，各种顾问们可能不得不发挥重要作用。如果争议是围绕财富展开的，理财顾问将试图找出存有争议的资产，并明确各人分歧之处。又例如，如果争议是关于家族企业中的职位或领导性角色，那么他/她或将尝试制订所有的决策流程并落实沟通的。
潜在的后果
如果顾问们能够对存在争议的问题有一个真正清晰的认识，他们就能更好地理解问题的利害关系、以及不去解决问题的潜在后果。一些争端的后果可能是有限的，至少在财务损失方面是如此，大家或许可以划出一条线，让每个人都得以放下疑虑，继续前进。另一方面，某一争端也许是根深蒂固并普遍存在的，其后果可能是无止境的，在这种情况下，处理这一问题的唯一可行办法，就是解决问题的根源，不论问题有多么困难。例如，一个人对某一特定问题的看法，隐含了对另一项决定的不满情绪，这种情况并不罕见，甚至这种不满可能与该问题完全无关，而且可能发生在遥远的过去。
定义一个成功的结果
对于成功的结果可能会有不同的定义，特别是在处理家族内部关系之中，在财务上的公平解决方案和避免财务损失之间来进行权衡的话。一位或多位个人的目标与整个家族的成功结果之间通常存在差异。对于家族而言，最成功的结果是一项能使家族主要原则和价值观念保持不变的决策。那时，所有家族成员都有发言权，遗产不会受到侵害，并且仍然存在一个可以按计划保护和发展家族资本的架构。由于受托人通常代表整个家族，因此这最终应该是他们的目标，而顾问仅代表个人，因而他们的目标可能会有所不同。
受托人/顾问应否参与?
当涉及到家族纠纷时，受托人和顾问的职责有着明显的不同。前者以其信托的资格与争端相关联，因此会被要求做出决策，此决策要么解决问题要么使问题加剧。在这时，他们必须考虑到其在信托契约条款下的义务，以及他们对所有受益人的法律责任，这将优先于任何试图调和家族成员意见的愿望。顾问则提供建议而非做决定，因此不会受到同样的法律约束。不过，根据合同，顾问可以与家族、家族成员或受托人产生联系。可能会有其他顾问更适合进行干预或者代表一方或多方。这就要求顾问对自己的影响力和与某些家族成员的关系做出诚实的自我评估。他们还必须考虑到意图提供帮助而结果适得其反的危险，尤其是如果他/她缺乏相关的专项技能或干预经验。受托人和顾问都必须扪心自问：如果无所作为产生的风险导致他们偏离了自己的职责范围，那么这种风险是否会好过介入纠纷的风险。在某些情况下，即使这样做将不利于他们自身的利益，他们都有可能需要远离纠纷、不闻不问，但由于需要持续履行信托的义务，因此要受托人绕道离开就会困难得多。
English Version
Resolving family differences: the role of advisers and trustees
Matthew Fleming
Partner - Head of Family Governance & Succession
Matthew is a Partner in the Group, responsible for helping clients develop and implement plans for passing on their legacy to subsequent generations.
A former army officer, he joined the family firm in 2012 after thirteen years as a professional cricketer. He has held various positions within the business, including Managing Partner of Fleming Media and a Director of Ian Fleming Publications and James Bond Enterprises. Educated at Eton, he was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1985. He has also had a number of external non-executive appointments, including ten years as a Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board. He was President of the MCC in 2017.
Lucy Birtwistle
Senior Associate – Family Office
Lucy is a Relationship Manager in the Family Office team, working closely with international ultra-high net worth families, assisting them on a range of aspects from their everyday needs to their longer term succession plans.
Before joining the Group, Lucy worked at Deloitte in the Family Enterprise Consulting division focusing on governance and succession planning for family businesses, having previously worked in their private client tax practice. Prior to this, she worked in Prime Brokerage at Barclays Capital. Lucy is a Chartered Accountant and won the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners ‘Young Advisor of the Year’ award 2017/18.
Savvas Mallas
Senior Associate - Family Office
Savvas is a Director in the Family Office Division. He is responsible for a number of international high-net-worth clients, working with their families and their advisers around the globe. Savvas joined the Stonehage Fleming Group in 2015. As well as managing significant client relationships, Savvas is a key member of the Group’s digital forum, tasked with researching and implementing digital solutions. Savvas has recently been selected to join a pioneering ‘Next Gen Advisory Committee’, tasked with providing fresh solutions around the group’s service offering, operating challenges and talent retention.
Savvas is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), a qualified chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW) and holds a STEP Advanced Certificate in UK Tax for International Clients. He has a degree in Accounting and Finance. Prior to joining Stonehage Fleming, Savvas was an audit and advisory manager, working for Baker Tilly in Jersey and Deloitte in Cyprus.
In every family, there are differences of view which sometimes cause friction and may even damage relationships. Such differences are part of life and often pass, over time, but occasionally they become deeply entrenched, having a long-term impact on the family, its dynamics, its wealth and its legacy.
When such differences affect key decisions regarding the management of family wealth, in all its forms, trustees and advisers are often drawn in, because of their specific decision making or advisory role and because of their relationships with family members.
But what are the responsibilities of a trustee or adviser in such circumstances? What should be their objectives? What should be their approach and how should they get started?
DEFINING CIRCUMSTANCES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
NATURE OF THE DISAGREEMENT
The first step is to try to understand who is disagreeing with whom, about what and why? This may be more difficult than it appears at first sight. As so many families will be aware, the issue apparently under dispute may be only the latest manifestation of deep rooted differences, so a calm and rational debate of the particular issue may not be easy.
The situation can be further complicated because some parties have a much better understanding than others of the matters under dispute, as a result of their respective career backgrounds, education or business acumen. Advisers may have to play an important part in bridging such a gap in understanding.
If the dispute is over wealth, the adviser will try to identify the disputed capital and crystallize the points of difference. If the dispute is over position or leadership roles in the family business, for example, then he or she will try to establish how the decisions have been made and communicated.
POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES
If advisers can build a really clear picture of what is being disputed, they can achieve a better understanding of what is at stake and the potential consequences of not resolving the problem. The consequences of some disputes can be limited, at least in terms of financial loss, perhaps enabling a line to be drawn so that everyone can move on.
On the other hand the dispute may be deep rooted and pervasive, so much so that the consequences are potentially unending, in which case the only possible way of dealing with it is to tackle the causes of the problem, however difficult that may be. For example it is not unusual for an individual’s view of a particular matter to be clouded by unspoken resentment of another decision, perhaps quite unrelated and perhaps in the distant past.
DEFINING A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME
There might be alternative definitions of a successful outcome, particularly if there is a trade-off between family relationships, a financially equitable solution and the avoidance of financial loss. There is often a difference between the objectives of one or more individuals and a successful outcome for the family as a whole. For the family, the most successful outcome is a resolution which enables the main principles and values of the family to remain intact.
Where all family members have a voice, where the legacy is not tarnished, and where there continues to be a framework for the family’s capital to be protected and grow, in line with agreed objectives. As the trustee would usually represent the family as a whole, this should ultimately be their goal, whereas advisers could represent individuals, so their goals might be different.
SHOULD A TRUSTEE / ADVISER GET INVOLVED?
When it comes to family disputes, there is a distinct difference between the duties of a trustee and an advisor. Trustees are linked to the dispute in a fiduciary capacity and may be required to make decisions which could either exacerbate or resolve the problem. In doing so they will have to consider their obligations under the terms of the trust deed, and their legal responsibilities to all beneficiaries, which will take precedence over any wish to reconcile the views of family members.
An adviser gives advice rather than making decisions, and will not therefore be bound by the same legal constraints. Nevertheless, the adviser could be contractually linked to the family, a family member or the trustee. There could be other advisers better placed to intervene or to represent one or more of the parties. This requires an adviser to make an honest self-assessment of his or her influence and relationship with certain family members.
They must also consider the danger that trying to help could backfire, especially if he or she lacks relevant skills and experience for intervening. Both a trustee and an adviser must ask themselves whether the risk of doing nothing is better than the risk of getting involved, if it results in veering outside their defined responsibilities. In some cases they may need to walk away, even if doing so disadvantages their own interests, but it is much more difficult for a trustee to walk away, as he or she has a continuing fiduciary obligation.
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