A new legal model introduced in Jersey will allow philanthropists to set up private foundations without Charity Commission regulation.
The Jersey Foundation model, which comes into existence next month, combines features of both trusts and corporations. It will have its own legal personality and will be exempt from tax in the same way as charitable foundations in the UK. But it will not be required to have exclusively charitable objects.
"There's a lot of evidence to show that this will be popular because it will enable founders to embrace objects that are both charitable and non-charitable," said Simon Weil, a partner and charities specialist at law firm Bircham Dyson Bell.
"But it can do more or less whatever a UK foundation can do."
Private foundations will have to be registered in Jersey, will be subject to Jersey law and will have to have at least one Jersey resident on their council of members.
