Private wealth structures are not immune from insolvency. Here we examine the Jersey and Guernsey position from the trustee's perspective and consider the issues with which a trustee needs to be familiar.

Test for insolvency

Background

So what precisely is an asset protection trust and what is it, over and above a normal trust that an asset protection trust is seeking to achieve? This paper considers these issues from a Jersey law perspective and fundamentally asks the question to what extent a Jersey trust, once established, will protect assets from creditor claims.

ECOtality, an electric vehicle charging station manufacturer and a recipient of 2009 stimulus package Department of Energy grants, filed for bankruptcy on September 17. The company received $100.2 million in grants, but the Department froze the remaining $2.5 million in grants on August 8.

On March 20, Suntech, a Chinese solar manufacturing company, declared bankruptcy. Questions have arisen on how the country’s solar industry will now cope with overcapacity issues which stem from a decline in demand from Europe. The declaration comes a week after the company announced it had defaulted on $541 million of bonds.