Wealth, trusts and family offices

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• trust – 信托 (xìntuō) – amanah: an arrangement under which a trustee holds assets for the benefit of beneficiaries or a purpose (Chapter E.IV).
• trustee – 受托人 (shòutuō rén) – pemegang amanah: the person who holds the legal title to trust assets and must administer them for the beneficiaries.¹
• settlor – 委托人 (wěituō rén) – pengasas amanah: the person who creates a trust by transferring assets to a trustee.²
• beneficiary – 受益人 (shòuyì rén) – benefisiari: a person entitled to benefit from a trust, an estate or an insurance policy.
• protector – 保护人 (bǎohù rén) – pelindung: a person appointed under a trust deed to oversee the trustee and to consent to certain decisions (Chapter E.IV).
• private trust company – 私人信托公司 (sīrén xìntuō gōngsī) – syarikat amanah persendirian: a company formed to act as trustee only for the trusts of one family (Chapter E.IV).
• licensed trust company – 持牌信托公司 (chípái xìntuō gōngsī) – syarikat amanah berlesen: a trust business licensed by MAS under the Trust Companies Act (Chapter E.IV).
• family office – 家族办公室 (jiāzú bàngōngshì) – pejabat keluarga: a company that manages the wealth, investments and affairs of one or more wealthy families (Chapter E.III).³
• single family office (SFO) – 单一家族办公室 (dānyī jiāzú bàngōngshì) – pejabat keluarga tunggal: a family office that serves only one family and is exempt from fund management licensing (Chapter E.III).⁴
• tax incentive scheme – 税务优惠计划 (shuìwù yōuhuì jìhuà) – skim insentif cukai: a statutory tax exemption granted to qualifying funds, such as the schemes for family office funds discussed in Chapter E.III.
• holding company – 控股公司 (kònggǔ gōngsī) – syarikat pegangan: a company whose main purpose is to hold shares in other companies.
• beneficial owner – 实益拥有人 (shíyì yōngyǒu rén) – pemilik benefisial: the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a customer or on whose behalf a transaction is conducted (Chapter H.III).⁵
• estate – 遗产 (yíchǎn) – harta pusaka: the assets and liabilities left by a person at death.
• will – 遗嘱 (yízhǔ) – wasiat: a written declaration by which a person disposes of property on death.
• probate – 遗嘱认证 (yízhǔ rènzhèng) – probet: the court’s confirmation of a will and of the executor’s authority to administer the estate.
• succession planning – 传承规划 (chuánchéng guīhuà) – perancangan penggantian: the planned transfer of wealth and of control of a family business to the next generation.
• income tax – 所得税 (suǒdé shuì) – cukai pendapatan: a tax on the income of individuals and companies, introduced in the colony only after long resistance by the merchants (Chapter B.I).
• goods and services tax (GST) – 消费税 (xiāofèi shuì) – cukai barangan dan perkhidmatan: Singapore’s broad-based tax on the supply of goods and services.
• estate duty – 遗产税 (yíchǎn shuì) – duti harta pusaka: the tax on the estates of deceased persons, which Singapore has abolished.
• tax residence – 税务居民身份 (shuìwù jūmín shēnfèn) – pemastautinan cukai: the status that determines in which country a person is taxed on income.
• double taxation agreement – 避免双重征税协定 (bìmiǎn shuāngchóng zhēngshuì xiédìng) – perjanjian pengelakan cukai dua kali: a treaty that allocates taxing rights between two states and relieves double taxation.
• automatic exchange of information – 自动交换资料 (zìdòng jiāohuàn zīliào) – pertukaran maklumat automatik: the annual transfer of financial account data between tax authorities under the Common Reporting Standard (Chapter E.II).
• Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – 共同申报准则 (gòngtóng shēnbào zhǔnzé) – Piawaian Pelaporan Bersama: the OECD standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information that Singapore applies (Chapter E.II).
• source of wealth – 财富来源 (cáifù láiyuán) – sumber kekayaan: the activities through which a client’s total wealth was generated, which a private bank must establish and corroborate (Chapter H.III).
• source of funds – 资金来源 (zījīn láiyuán) – sumber dana: the origin of the particular assets involved in a business relationship or transaction (Chapter H.III).
• wealth migration – 财富移民 (cáifù yímín) – penghijrahan kekayaan: the relocation of wealthy individuals and their assets to another jurisdiction (Chapter I.V).

Notes

1. PRPM, entry “trustee”, citing Kamus Inggeris-Melayu Dewan (accessed November 2026): “pemegang amanah: the Public T~, Pemegang Amanah Raya”. ↩
2. Malay form uncertain. Malaysian legal usage also uses “penyelesai”. ↩
3. Malay form is a translation. ↩
4. Malay form is a translation. ↩
5. Chinese form follows Singapore and Hong Kong usage. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.