Journal of International Business and Law
Abstract
U.S. households own or control USD $140 trillion (TN).1 Their financial assets under management (AUM) are being managed today through the complex circuitry of global financial markets. Real estate, art and other assets also are being managed. For estate and wealth management planning, for security of long-term asset appreciation and asset protection against bankruptcy, divorce, death, incapacity and exposure of assets to litigation risks, lawyers recommend establishing trusts and rely on the professional expertise, responsibility and ethical clarity of corporate trustees. In the U.S., private trusts typically are formed pursuant to the trust codes of the various states, often modeled on the Uniform Trust Code promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) and endorsed by the American Bar Association (ABA). With national banks pushing to grow their trust management business, this article takes up the lack of consumer protection in holding them accountable for the performance of the AUM they manage over decades, and whether beneficiaries have sufficient practical means – legal and financial – to bring and succeed in litigation to enforce their rights.
Recommended Citation
Cahan, Bruce
(2024)
"Broken Trust - A $500,000 Lesson in How Banks as Trustees Fail Beneficiaries While Enriching Themselves and While Regulators Ignore the Abuse,"
Journal of International Business and Law: Vol. 24:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/jibl/vol24/iss1/10