'settlor' is a correct and usable word in written English. You can use it when describing someone who makes a settlement, especially in terms of establishing a trust. For example, "The settlor established a trust for their children's education.".
Confusingly, ownership is split: the trustee is the legal owner, while the beneficiaries or the settlor, or both, can at different times exercise beneficial ownership or control who gets the money.
Under the amended directive, they would have to register and disclose the identity of the settlor (the person behind the trust), the trustee and beneficiaries.
Trustees can be guided by a "letter of wishes", which may allow the settlor to control assets even though legally they do not belong to him.
John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network, a pressure group, terms them "one of the biggest nuts yet to be cracked".A trust typically involves three main parties: a settlor (who donates the assets), a trustee (who manages the arrangement) and beneficiaries (who are to receive the funds in future).
The maker ("settlor") of the trust will convey property to the trustee (who may be an individual or a corporation, such as a bank or trust company) and instruct the trustee to hold and manage the property for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries of the trust.
Pressure groups are calling on the government to publish its new central register of trusts, which names their beneficiaries and settlors.
You would have no idea who the trust settlors were, what the assets were or where they came from.
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Software Engineer at Adobe, UK