Merlin Trust - Document FAQs
The following Frequently Asked Questions have been raised by beneficiaries of the Merlin Fund Trust in response to the documents circulated for completion by the Trustee from the third week in May, as part of its process to renew all Beneficiary information.
Please refer to the following FAQ’s for guidance on how to complete and submit your Beneficiary information. For any other Merlin Trust Fund queries not related to this document process, please refer to the General FAQ’s page.
1. Why do I need to complete this process?:
I’ve been through an ID verification exercise as part of this investment once already.
Primarily, all shareholders have been redeemed into a Trust which is a new legal structure with a new Trustee which has to demonstrate that it has been through its own Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedure according to current Maltese legislation. It is also true that certain investors may have invested up to 8 years ago and personal circumstances are likely to have changed in that time, as well as AML legislation, so it makes sense to undertake a complete refresh of personal and banking information before distributions begin.
2. Supporting References:
I have been asked to provide supporting references including a Personal Biography or CV, a Bank Reference Letter and a Statement of Assets. This seems like a lot of additional paperwork for this process. Are these references absolutely necessary?
Under the current circumstances with lockdowns remaining active in many countries, we have recognised the difficulty some aspects of this process are presenting and taken a decision to relax the requirement for these additional references in this instance. Therefore, if you have received a beneficiary form which requests any of the above items, you may disregard that request. To clarify, please complete the forms in as much detail as you can and refer to the list of due diligence documents outlined in the covering letter as the definitive list of document requirements.
3. Covid-19 delays:
The current situation is going to lead to a delay as it will not be possible for me to obtain the certified documents necessary whilst under lockdown conditions. Will this delay my payment when the trust is ready to redeem?
As we referenced in our covering letter, we understand that current circumstances mean that obtaining all the necessary documents may be problematic for some. There is no deadline for returning the documents on this basis, but we have requested the documents now because we do expect a final redemption on the trust and distributions to beneficiaries in due course as the sale of care home assets are concluded. This means we have had to begin collating the information regardless.
We cannot (by law) process distribution payments without the documentation requested so if your documents are not received and verified as complete by the time the trust undertakes its distribution, your payment will indeed be withheld. However, payments will be released to you once you have been able to complete the document process as instructed.
4. Certified ID for Joint Investors:
My partner and I are registered as joint investors, does this mean that we need to provide 2 copies each of both of our passports?
Yes, certified ID is required for both registered investors regardless of the relationship between the two.
5. Proof of Address for Joint Investors:
My partner does not appear on any of our home utility bills. Do I need to verify the proof of address for BOTH joint investors even if there is only one address on the account (e.g. husband and wife domiciled at the same address)?
Yes, we would require proof of address for both beneficiaries. We may also accept bank statements or official government correspondence if a utility bill in the name of both beneficiaries is not available.
6. Original Documents:
I/We do not receive hard copies of utility bills or bank statements in the post because we operate online accounts for all our banking and utility services. On this basis, what do you define to be an ‘original’ copy?
In cases where original copies of bank statements and utility bills are not available, we may accept original pdf documents as long as we are provided with the following:
If the bill was received via email, we would require a copy of the email received from the supplier and the original pdf bill;
If the bill was downloaded via your online account, we would then require, in addition to the original pdf bill, a screenshot of your account displaying your full name and the option to download the said bill has to be clearly visible. Any details not required by us can be redacted as long as our requirements are met.
7. Original Documents:
If we cannot provide an original document and we need to have a copy certified, how do you expect the certification to be undertaken? Normally, a professional person would certify a utility bill as being an ‘original copy’ and proof of residential address. However, in this case they would be presented with a copy printed from an online account meaning they could not certify as original.
In the case of utility bills which were downloaded from the beneficiary’s account, the certification should read ‘certified true download’ and not ‘certified original’. We may also accept utility bills in original pdf format given that the requirements set forth in point 6 are met.
8. Utility Bills as PORA:
It is not practical for us to provide certified Utility Bills due to our living arrangements overseas where household bills are in the name of the property owner. We only have mobile phone bills, which you do not accept. Do you have an alternative please?
The Trustee may also accept either a bank statement or official government correspondence as proof of residential address (PORA).
9. Recorded Deliveries:
As you reference in your covering letter, your office is not guaranteed to be manned under the current Covid-19 restrictions so you will not necessarily have a signatory available for deliveries. However, I am reluctant to post original bank statements and the other documents which contain personal details without the additional security of some form of recorded delivery option. Is there an acceptable alternative which would enable a secure transfer of these documents?
You may send your document pack directly to the Trustee in Malta by international courier, who operate from a serviced office building for deliveries to be accepted. Alternatively, you can retain your documents and liaise with Best Administration Services for guidance on its offices reopening. Please see the Trustees address as below:
Trident Trust Company (Malta) Ltd
Orange Point Building, Second Floor
Dun Karm Street, Birkirkara By-Pass
Birkirkara, BKR 9037, Malta
10. Professional Persons:
We are struggling to identify an Accountant or Solicitor at the moment due to the current Covid-19 circumstances, with many professional people working from home and not accepting visitors. Would a Financial Advisor certified by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom be acceptable as an alternative?
Yes, we may accept certified copies certified by a financial advisor regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. However, we would require the FCA registration number of the individual to be clearly noted as part of their certification of the documents for cross reference before approval.
11. Professional Persons:
Can you suggest a suitable professional who could provide assistance with this process?
Yes, if you are still struggling to obtain professional support for this process and you are based in the UK, an authorised IFA firm has offered to support you in this matter without charge. Should you require these contact details, please contact the Merlin UK Admin Support team on 0845 130 9022 or email info@bestadmin.co.uk
12. Professional Trustees:
My investment is made through my pension scheme. In respect of the forms can you confirm who needs to sign them? Will this need to be the underlying member, the professional trustee or will it need to be both?
In many cases, if the pension scheme has joint trustees in the form of a Professional Trustee and yourself as the Beneficiary of the scheme, we would usually expect the Professional Trustee to complete the documents and sign in their capacity as the Administrator of the scheme and Joint Trustee. This is also subject to the terms of business you have with your pension provider.
HOWEVER, guidance in these instances will vary as pension schemes, trust funds, etc, can be structured in any number of different ways. Therefore, we would kindly ask you to refer to us with specific questions and instructions accordingly.
13. Corporate Entity Forms:
Having invested through my pension scheme, I have received Corporate Entity Forms to complete. Can you clarify that this form is relevant to the pension scheme? If this is the case are you able to advise what you require as the registration number?
A pension scheme is an entity rather than an individual and therefore as the registered beneficiary, it should complete the documents as an entity. Your pension scheme should have a reference number, which would be acceptable.
HOWEVER, as noted in Question 11, pension schemes, trust funds, etc, can be structured in any number of different ways and we would kindly ask you to refer back to us with specific questions and instruction will be provided accordingly.
14. Corporate Entity Forms:
At the bottom of the form it requests several documents which aren’t included in your letter including ‘a certification of incorporation’ and ‘certification of good standing’. These do not appear to be relevant to a pension scheme as an investing entity. Can I ignore these as ‘Not Applicable’?
In cases where the beneficiary is a corporate entity, please refer to the due diligence documents outlined in the beneficiary cover letter for entities. However, if one of the joint beneficiaries is a corporate entity, such as a professional pension trustee, we would expect them to share their company registration details within the submission.
15. Individual Beneficiary Forms:
For the purpose of this form, am I a shareholder or a beneficiary? Also, are our passport numbers our identity reference numbers?
You are beneficiaries of the Trust, not shareholders. The Identity Reference Number refers to your passport or national identity card number.
16. Individual Beneficiary Forms:
In the section marked ‘Appointment of Agent and Attorney’, do I have to provide information or is this section not applicable in all cases?
This section is only applicable if you are appointing a third party to represent you in this matter. Please disregard this section if you do not intend to appoint someone.