A private trust company is a Gibraltar-incorporated company established for the sole purpose of acting as trustee of one or more trusts, typically connected to a single family.
Rather than appointing an external professional trustee, the family appoints its own PTC, which it can populate with family members, trusted advisers, and one or more independent directors.
Acquarius provides the regulated administration, registered office, accounting, compliance, and ongoing fiduciary support that makes the PTC structure work in practice.
The family retains direct involvement in trustee decisions; we provide the operational backbone and the regulated oversight.
Greater Family Control
A PTC allows family members and trusted advisers to participate in trustee decision-making while retaining the legal protection and governance of a corporate trustee.
Continuity & Flexibility
A PTC provides long-term continuity across generations and is particularly well suited to families with operating businesses, specialist investments, philanthropic structures or other complex assets.
Efficient Long-term Governance
Where multiple family trusts are involved, a single PTC can provide a consistent governance framework that enhances confidentiality and may offer greater operational efficiency than separate professional trustees.
Gibraltar PTCs benefit from the same factors that make Gibraltar attractive for trusts generally:
English common law trust law, FSC regulation, professional ecosystem, and competitive cost base. In addition, Gibraltar offers a regulatory regime that recognises PTCs as a distinct category and provides clear pathways for incorporation, ongoing administration, and substance compliance.
The PTC sits within an established framework: company law providing the corporate vehicle, trust law providing the substantive trustee duties, and the FSC providing oversight of the regulated administration. The structure works because each component is mature.
We work with you and your tax counsel to design a structure that matches the family’s governance preferences and the trusts the PTC will administer. A typical engagement involves:
Establish the PTC
Incorporate the Private Trust Company in Gibraltar, establish its ownership and governance framework, and put in place the constitutional documents that will guide its operation.
Build the Governance Framework
Establish an appropriate board of family members, trusted advisers and independent professionals, together with the trust structures the PTC will administer. Acquarius can provide professional directorship where required.
Ongoing Administration
Acquarius provides the regulated support required to operate the PTC effectively, including registered office, company secretarial services, accounting, compliance, board administration and trustee record-keeping.
Our Approach
Registered office, company secretarial work, accounting, compliance with FSC reporting, AML and KYC procedures, board minutes and resolutions, and trustee recordkeeping.
We sit on the board where required, but our default position is to support the family’s governance rather than to substitute for it.
The philosophy is straightforward: the family makes the substantive trustee decisions; we make sure those decisions are documented properly, the regulatory framework is satisfied, and the structure operates with the discipline expected of a regulated trustee.
The best PTC arrangements are ones where the family feels in control of decisions and supported by a regulated provider in everything else.
We work alongside your UK or international tax adviser, not in place of one.
PTCs typically suit:
PTCs are not the right answer for every family. For straightforward family wealth situations, an external professional trustee is often simpler and cheaper. We will tell you where a standard professional trustee structure is more appropriate.
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Key Contacts
Oliver Andlaw
Managing Director
Gareth Cross
Chief Operating Officer
Laura Fuhr
Company Manager
Speak to our PTC team
Talk to usIs a PTC regulated in Gibraltar?
Gibraltar PTCs themselves benefit from a tailored regulatory regime that exempts them from some of the licensing requirements applied to commercial trustees, on the basis that they act for a single connected group of trusts. However, the operational administration is regulated, and AML, KYC, recordkeeping, and reporting standards all apply. Acquarius provides the regulated administration.
Can family members sit on the PTC board?
Yes. A typical PTC has a mix of family members, trusted advisers, and at least one independent professional director. We help structure the board to balance family input with fiduciary discipline.
How long does PTC set-up take?
Six to twelve weeks from initial instruction, depending on the complexity of the structure and the underlying trusts.
How does a PTC compare to using a professional trustee?
A professional trustee is faster, simpler, and lower cost up front. A PTC offers more family control, more continuity, and is often more cost-effective at scale where multiple trusts share a single PTC. The right answer depends on the family’s size, complexity, and governance preferences.
Who owns the PTC itself?
The most common arrangement is for the PTC to be owned by a non-charitable purpose trust, which ensures the PTC has continuity beyond any individual generation and is not subject to inheritance complications on the death of any individual owner.
Acquarius Trust
Company Limited
+(350) 200 50418
Icom House, Suite 3,
2nd Floor 1/5 Irish Town,
PO Box 883
Gibraltar, GX11 1AA
Reg. N 64486
GFSC N 5136
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