Key Takeaways
- • The U.S. has become the leading jurisdiction for discreet wealth, with the Tax Justice Network ranking it first, meaning worst, on its Financial Secrecy Index, as the global campaign against Swiss-style offshore accounts succeeded.
- • Wealth managers describe the U.S. as the world's most attractive destination for capital seeking privacy, citing trust laws, sophisticated ownership structures, and the protection of American courts.
- • Wilmington Trust's Sharon L. Klein and Bessemer Trust's Lynn Halpern defend trust structures, saying opacity is a byproduct of planning rather than its aim, while critics argue the architecture makes ownership increasingly hard for outsiders to trace.
- • Regulatory transparency efforts have weakened: in March 2025 the Trump administration exempted U.S. companies and citizens from reporting beneficial ownership information to FinCEN, according to the article.
- • The Pritzker family litigation, which produced settlements exceeding $1 billion, illustrates why trust planning now focuses on family governance as well as asset protection.
Summary
An analysis of modern wealth management describes how a founder who sold his company for roughly half a billion dollars in liquid wealth faced a new set of questions about investment, succession, and risk. His advisers proposed a structure combining a multigenerational trust, limited-liability companies holding real estate, a manufacturing business and a private equity partnership, a family office, and a professional trustee. Wilmington Trust's Sharon L. Klein, who describes the client's first question as "Now what?", says critics focus too much on opacity and tax savings. "Trust-planning is about so much more," she said.
The article frames a reversal in the fight against hidden wealth. For two decades, regulators targeted secret offshore accounts, pressing Swiss banks to reveal account holders and pursuing Caribbean tax havens and Panamanian shell-company networks. The U.S. assault on Swiss secrecy began in 2008 with action against UBS, and Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act two years later. UBS later acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, inheriting a case in which Credit Suisse admitted in May 2025 to conspiring to conceal more than $4 billion in offshore accounts and agreed to a settlement exceeding $500 million with the Justice Department.
As Swiss secrecy weakened, the U.S. emerged as a leading destination for privacy. The article cites a Miami condominium bought through a Delaware LLC owned by a South Dakota trust as an example of a legal transaction in which the human owner is difficult to identify. It also notes that the Trump administration's March 2025 exemption weakened beneficial ownership reporting, drawing criticism from Ian Gary of the FACT Coalition, who said it "contradicted fifteen years of bipartisan work by Congress."
Critics argue that the new structures reshape capital flows, affect asset prices, and reduce tax revenue. Defenders, including Stanford economist Anat Admati, acknowledge valid privacy reasons for confidentiality but say financial secrecy has become "a prominent and highly problematic issue." Trust professionals also stress governance risks, citing a 2009 STEP Journal warning about "the enemy within" and the Pritzker family litigation that led to settlements exceeding $1 billion. Cerity Partners' Justyn Volesko says trusts "can do a laundry list of tasks," reflecting a shift toward governance and adaptability alongside asset protection.
The article frames a reversal in the fight against hidden wealth. For two decades, regulators targeted secret offshore accounts, pressing Swiss banks to reveal account holders and pursuing Caribbean tax havens and Panamanian shell-company networks. The U.S. assault on Swiss secrecy began in 2008 with action against UBS, and Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act two years later. UBS later acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, inheriting a case in which Credit Suisse admitted in May 2025 to conspiring to conceal more than $4 billion in offshore accounts and agreed to a settlement exceeding $500 million with the Justice Department.
As Swiss secrecy weakened, the U.S. emerged as a leading destination for privacy. The article cites a Miami condominium bought through a Delaware LLC owned by a South Dakota trust as an example of a legal transaction in which the human owner is difficult to identify. It also notes that the Trump administration's March 2025 exemption weakened beneficial ownership reporting, drawing criticism from Ian Gary of the FACT Coalition, who said it "contradicted fifteen years of bipartisan work by Congress."
Critics argue that the new structures reshape capital flows, affect asset prices, and reduce tax revenue. Defenders, including Stanford economist Anat Admati, acknowledge valid privacy reasons for confidentiality but say financial secrecy has become "a prominent and highly problematic issue." Trust professionals also stress governance risks, citing a 2009 STEP Journal warning about "the enemy within" and the Pritzker family litigation that led to settlements exceeding $1 billion. Cerity Partners' Justyn Volesko says trusts "can do a laundry list of tasks," reflecting a shift toward governance and adaptability alongside asset protection.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.