Trusts and Trustees Act (Cap. 331), article 29

29. (1) A trustee shall, so far as is reasonable and within a reasonable time of receiving a request in writing to that effec t, provide full and accurate informa tion as to the state and amoun t of the trust property, including th e accounts of the trust, and su bject to subarticle (2), the conduct of the trust administration to: (a) the Court; (b) subject to the terms of the trust, the settlor; (c) the protector of the trust; (d) without prejudice to sub-article (4) and sub-article (5), any beneficiary of the trust who is of full age and c a p a c i t y , o r i f a m i n o r , t o h i s l a w f u l g u a r d i a n o r representative; (e) subject to the terms of the t rust, any charit y referred to by name for the benefit of which the trust was established; and (f) in case of a trust established for a charitable purpose, the Attorney General, the enforcer or the relevant authority under applicable law. (2) Subject to the terms of the trust and to any order of the court given for special reasons, a trustee or any other person shall not be required to disclose to any person any document or TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES [CAP. 331. 25 information which - (a) discloses the trustee’s deliberations as to the manner in which a power or discretion was exercised, or a duty conferred or imposed by law or by the terms of the trust was performed; (b) discloses the reason for any particular exercise of such power or discretion or performance of duty or the material upon which such reason will be or might have been based; (c) relates to the exercise or proposed exercise of such power or discretion or the performance or proposed performance of such duty. (3) Unless the terms of the trust s expressly determine the time when and the method how beneficiaries are to be informed of the ir entitlement under a trust, the trustee shall be obliged to info rm any beneficiary of his entitlement, in writing, within a reasonable time of his accepting to act. (4) When the terms of the trust grant a discretion in terms of article 9(10), the terms of the trust may suspend until such ti me as a discretion is exercised in their favour the duty of the trustee to inform such beneficiaries that t hey may benefit under the trust or that they form part of a class of beneficiaries which may so be nefit. The terms of the trust may also indicate the time when and the method of how such beneficiaries are to be informed. (5) If the trust instrument expressly prohibits notification of information to beneficiaries or to those persons that form part of a class from among which benefic iaries may be appointed, without reference to any point in time, as certained or ascertainable, s uch term shall be construed as implying a duty of the trustee to in form such beneficiaries within a reasonable time after the death of the settlor. (6) Should the trustee consider providing information as required by the preceding subarticles to be prejudicial to the beneficiaries of the trust or any of them, the trustee may appl y to the Court and the Court may rel ease the trustee from the obliga tion to inform under such conditions a s it may consider appropriate. (7) The duty to inform as above provided shall not arise if the trustee is in possession of information which reasonably demonstrates that those entitled to such information have alrea dy been informed or are already aware of such information. (8) In the case of a trust established for charitable purposes, the duty to inform either unnamed ben eficiaries forming part of a c lass or persons forming part of a class of persons who may be appoin ted as beneficiaries in terms of a p ower of the trustee, shall not arise notwithstanding the terms of th e trust unless, in case of the unnamed beneficiaries the trustee establishes that there exist less than ten beneficiaries appertain ing to such class of beneficiar ies. Furthermore, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, the unnamed beneficiaries or persons who may be added as beneficiaries in terms of a power shall be assumed to be person s 26 CAP. 331.] TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES who carry on relevant charitabl e activities principally in Malt a. (9) The trustee shall carry out the duty to inform to the best o f his abilities and at the expense of the trust and in the event it appears to the trustee that such exercise will be too costly or burdensome, the trustee may apply to the Court for directions a nd the Court shall be empowered to release the trustee from such d uty under such conditions as i t considers appropriate. (10) The suspension of the duty of a trustee to inform beneficiaries as provided in thi s article shall not reduce the rights of beneficiaries or the duties and liability of the trustee tow ards such beneficiaries i n terms of this Act. (11) Persons who may be added as beneficiaries in terms of a power referred to in article 9(7) shall have no right of inform ation until such time as they are appointed beneficiaries by the trus tee pursuant to such power. (12) In the case of a trust to hold property in relation to a commercial transaction, the duties of the trustee relating to t he provision of information and the rights of beneficiaries to suc h information may be determined by the terms of trust, in which c ase the preceding subarticles of t his article shall not apply. Liability for breach of trust. Amended by: XX.1994.4.