Trustee for US persons: the questions to put to a Swiss trustee

A trustee for US persons has to do more than hold assets carefully. When the settlor or a beneficiary is a US person, a trust can give rise to reporting in several countries at once, and the trustee must be able to support that reporting and work alongside advisers who know US rules. This page is an entry point: a list of questions to put to a candidate trustee, or to your current one, with the reason each matters and who should answer it.

It is general information, not tax or legal advice. The answers depend on your residence, the trust deed, the nature of the assets and the countries involved, so they call for an individual analysis.

Why a US connection changes the trustee conversation

Most trust questions are about control and continuity. With a US person in the picture, a second layer appears: who reports what, to which authority, and with what documents. A trustee who is excellent at administration can still be poorly placed if its records, systems and advisers were never built for this.

The trustee sits at the centre of the information flow. It holds the trust deed, knows who the settlor and beneficiaries are, keeps the accounts and deals with the banks. If it cannot produce a clear picture of the structure on request, your US adviser will struggle to complete anything accurately.

Two points are easy to confuse:

• The trust is recognised as a trust. Under the Hague Convention on trusts, a trust validly created under its governing law is recognised, and the assets form a separate fund held in the trustee's name. That is about legal recognition, not about how any country taxes the structure.
• Tax treatment is a separate question. A US person's treatment depends on US rules, which a Swiss trustee does not decide. Its job is to administer correctly and supply accurate information to those who do.

What a Swiss trustee can and cannot do

A professional trustee in Switzerland is a regulated activity. Under the financial institutions law (LEFin / FinIA / FINIG), a trustee is someone who professionally manages a separate fund for a beneficiary or for a defined purpose on the basis of a trust deed within the meaning of the Hague Convention. The same law requires the management to include at least two qualified people with suitable training and experience. For how that approval works in practice, see what FINMA and SO-FIT approval means for you.

What the trustee can reasonably do:

• keep identification files on the settlor, the beneficial owners and the beneficiaries, under the anti-money-laundering rules (LBA / AMLA / GwG);
• file the automatic exchange reports that apply to the structure;
• keep minutes, accounts and distribution records in a form your advisers can use;
• cooperate with your US counsel and accountant, on your instructions.

What it cannot do: give you US tax advice as if it were your adviser, remove an obligation that falls on you personally, or promise an outcome. A trustee that does either should prompt more questions, not fewer.

Reporting a Swiss trustee must be able to support

Two exchange regimes are relevant. The first is the common reporting standard (CRS, also called EAR / AEOI). The Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance states that more than 100 states, including all major financial centres, have adopted the global standard, with its list of partner states updated as at 08.10.2026.

The second is FATCA, which concerns US persons directly. The current Swiss regime rests on the agreement of 14 February 2013, with aggregated reporting and group requests. A model 1 agreement, with automatic and reciprocal exchange, was signed on 27 June 2024. According to the Federal Tax Administration, it enters into force no earlier than 1 January 2029, and implementation is under way.

For you, the practical point is simple: the rules are moving, so ask how the trustee keeps up to date and who confirms the classification of the trust. More on the duties themselves is in compliance and reporting: what your trustee must do.

The questions, and who answers them

The table below sets out the questions that matter most. Not all of them belong to the trustee: some are for your US adviser, and a good trustee will say so plainly.

Experience and method

Ask whether the trustee already works with US persons, and how. You are not looking for names; you are looking for a described process: who gathers the data, who reviews it, and how often. A candidate that answers in generalities has probably not done this regularly. The due diligence questionnaire gives a wider frame, and due diligence on your trustee explains what to check.

Records and access

Ask which documents you will receive and when: trust accounts, a record of distributions, copies of the deed and any amendments, and a clear statement of who holds powers. US filings depend on exact information about transfers and payments. See what information your trustee must give you.

Control and reserved powers

A settlor may keep certain powers without defeating the trust: the Hague Convention says reserved powers are not inconsistent with the existence of a trust. But for a US settlor, what is reserved can matter a great deal elsewhere. Ask the trustee to list every reserved power in the deed, and take that list to your adviser. The topic is developed in settlor reserved powers and the trustee.

Banks and account status

The trustee usually opens and operates the trust accounts, and banks ask their own questions about US status. Ask who completes the bank forms, who signs them, and how changes in status are passed on. See your trustee and the trust bank accounts.

A worked illustration

Example: a family established in Lausanne sets up a trust whose settlor is Swiss-resident. Years later, the settlor's daughter, who has moved to the United States and acquired US status, becomes a discretionary beneficiary. Nothing in the deed changed, but the situation did.

The family asks the trustee three things. First, can it confirm in writing how the trust is classified for exchange purposes now? Second, what records will it give the daughter's US accountant, and when? Third, does the daughter need to be told about distributions in advance, so that her own filings are accurate?

The trustee answers the first and third; the second is shared. The daughter's own duties are set out by her US adviser, and the trustee's role is to deliver accurate, timely information. If the trustee had no process for this, the family would know it needed to change trustee or add a specialist.

Checklist before you decide

• List every US person connected with the trust: settlor, beneficiaries, protector.
• Ask the trustee to describe its reporting process in writing.
• Name your US adviser and let the trustee contact them with your consent.
• Obtain the full deed, amendments and the list of reserved powers.
• Ask who confirms the trust's classification, and when it is reviewed.
• Agree what happens if a beneficiary becomes, or stops being, a US person.
• Check whether a move of the settlor would change the reporting; see when the settlor moves country.