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Our trust, legal and compliance teams work in concert—we not only design trust structures but also carry out the day-to-day duties of a trustee over the long term, safeguarding your family's legacy.

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For our mission, vision and values, see About Us; for the services we provide, see Services.

Key Features

• Account overview: net asset value, investment accounts, credit line and trends at a glance.
• Multi-account management: multi-currency sub-accounts and holdings under your main account.
• Deposits / withdrawals: bank wire transfer, cash and digital-asset deposits, plus multiple withdrawal methods.
• Credit card: a physical Mastercard debit card secured against your trust assets.
• Investments: browse and subscribe to investment products.
• Activity and notifications: unified updates on funds and card activity.

Process

• 1 · Book a consultation: get in touch via Book a Consultation; once your trust requirements and arrangements are confirmed, our client team will activate your portal access.
• 2 · Establishment application: at first sign-in you enter the setup wizard, where you provide the settlor's details (identity documents, residential address, CRS tax residency self-certification, source-of-funds declaration) and register at least one beneficiary.
• 3 · Customer Due Diligence (CDD): in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), identity and sanctions screening is carried out on the settlor and beneficiaries.
• 4 · Sign the Trust Deed: once due diligence is passed, a Deed of Trust (governed by Hong Kong law) is generated for you to read online and sign electronically.
• 5 · Establishment of the trust: upon the trustee's counter-signature the trust is established, the trust account (including multi-currency sub-accounts) is opened automatically, and funding can begin.

Funding arrangements such as the virtual receiving account are operational services provided by the trustee and are configured together with the account; they are not a legal prerequisite for the establishment of the trust. Your deed and account information can be viewed and downloaded at any time under Settings → Trust.

The Four Steps

• 1 · Establishment application: provide the settlor's details (identity documents, residential address, tax residency, source-of-funds declaration), register at least one beneficiary, confirm the trust name and arrangements, and upload images of the settlor's identity documents.
• 2 · Customer Due Diligence (CDD): in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), identity and sanctions screening is carried out on the settlor and beneficiaries. Large or complex sources of funds may require supporting evidence or an offline interview.
• 3 · Sign the Trust Deed: once due diligence is passed, a Deed of Trust is generated, governed by Hong Kong law. You read the full text online and sign it electronically (confirmed with your sign-in password).
• 4 · Establishment of the trust: upon the trustee's counter-signature the trust is established, and the trust account (including multi-currency sub-accounts and receiving arrangements) is opened automatically, ready for funding.

Beneficiaries

A beneficiary is a member of the trust structure entitled to benefit from the trust. At least one must be registered at establishment, with their identity information provided (name, relationship to the settlor, identity documents, nationality, date of birth). Once registered, a beneficiary becomes a party to the trust; to add or remove beneficiaries thereafter, please contact your client team (this constitutes a change to the trust structure).

Management After Establishment

Once the trust is established, you can view the trust summary (name, account number, deed reference, type, governing law, trustee) and the list of parties under Settings → Trust, and download the Trust Deed at any time. Account and funding features are not available until establishment is complete.

A trust involves three roles:

• Settlor: the person who establishes the trust, contributes assets and expresses their wishes.
• Trustee: the party that legally holds and administers the trust assets. CityTrust, as a Hong Kong registered trust company (section 78(1) of the Trustee Ordinance), acts as your professional trustee.
• Beneficiary: the person entitled to the trust benefits, named by the settlor in the beneficiary register.

Two core documents

The Deed of Trust is the legal foundation of the trust, defining the trustee's powers, duties and the trust terms; the Letter of Wishes is not legally binding and guides the trustee when exercising discretion.

Your control and interest

While living, the settlor retains full beneficial interest in and direction over the trust assets; on death, beneficiaries hold a 100% beneficial interest per the register. See the Trust Establishment Process for the steps.

• Legal ownership: a bank account is held in your own name; the trust account's legal title is “CITYTRUST LIMITED ATF THE [your] TRUST”, held by the trustee.
• Asset segregation: trust assets are separate from the trustee's own assets and are not on the trustee's balance sheet; funds in your Hong Kong account are held in a client money account at an HKMA-regulated licensed bank.
• Succession & continuity: a trust can continue across personal contingencies and pass assets on under the deed and letter of wishes.
• Privacy: a Hong Kong trust need not enter the settlor or beneficiaries into any public register (see Privacy and Asset Protection).

A trust account is not a deposit account: it is not protected by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS). CityTrust acts as trustee on instruction — it does not take public deposits or provide investment advice.

Privacy

A Hong Kong trust does not require the settlor or beneficiaries to be entered into any public register. Legal ownership of the trust assets rests with the trustee, and the arrangement is protected by the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and the trustee's duty of confidentiality. The trustee will not disclose the contents of your trust except in a criminal matter or under a Hong Kong court order.

Planning

By legally transferring assets to the trustee to hold, a trust can appropriately separate assets from personal identity, supporting long-term wealth planning and succession. The degree of protection depends on the timing, purpose and applicable law of the trust; transfers made to defeat existing debts are not protected.

Compliance and transparency

Privacy is not concealment. CityTrust meets its tax information reporting obligations under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA, and complies with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615). This article is general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice; please consult a professional adviser about your situation.

If the settlor loses capacity

If the settlor becomes incapacitated, the trustee may exercise discretion under the Deed of Trust and the latest Letter of Wishes to continue administering and disposing of the trust assets for the beneficiaries — without a separate guardianship process being needed for the trust assets.

On the settlor's death

After the settlor passes away, beneficiaries hold a 100% beneficial interest in the trust assets per the beneficiary register. As the assets are already within the trust structure, succession proceeds under the deed terms, reducing the delay and publicity of probate.

Adjusting the arrangement

While living, you can adjust the arrangement through trustee-reviewed register changes and by updating your Letter of Wishes (see Settings → Trust after signing in). This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice.

Sub-accounts are organised by region / type (for example Hong Kong, Digital, US and Singapore accounts), each maintaining its own ledger and counting towards your total assets.

• Bank wire transfer: remit funds using the beneficiary bank details shown in the dialog; the remitter's name must match the account holder's name.
• Cash deposit: submit a cash deposit request and proceed as instructed.
• Digital-asset deposit: you must first activate digital-asset custody (see "Digital-Asset Custody & Exchange"); once approved, deposit to the dedicated on-chain address issued by the custodian, with funds credited according to on-chain confirmations.

• Digital-asset withdrawal (the withdrawal address must be pre-registered on the whitelist and reviewed; once approved, a 24-hour cooling-off period applies, and withdrawals can only be made after it has elapsed)
• Cash withdrawal
• Bank wire transfer to a beneficiary
• Internal transfer
• Invoice payment
• Investment payment

Withdrawal fees and processing times vary by type; the details shown at the time of submission prevail.

• Intra-account transfer: move funds between the sub-accounts under your trust account; initiate it under "Transfer" after signing in, with funds credited in real time.
• Trust-to-trust transfer: transfer to another CITYTRUST client's trust account, free of charge; please verify the recipient's details before submitting.
• Cross-currency transfer: where a currency conversion is involved, it is executed at the exchange rate at the time of submission, with each ledger entry accompanied by an exchange-rate snapshot for full traceability.

The internal transfer fee is 0.1% (minimum $5); per-transaction limits and processing times are as shown on the page at the time of submission.

Custody Arrangement

Once digital-asset services are activated, the trustee opens a segregated custody vault for your trust in the name of the trust (client-level segregation): digital assets are held with a qualified custodian engaged by the trustee, complemented by institutional-grade custody technology such as multi-party computation (MPC) to control private keys and authorise transfers. The specific custodian and arrangements may be adjusted according to asset class and business needs, and the information disclosed to you at the relevant time prevails.

Deposits

Once custody activation is approved, the system displays a dedicated deposit address issued by the custodian (distinguished by currency and network); funds are credited according to on-chain confirmations.

Exchange

All exchanges are conducted on a request-for-quote (RFQ) basis, covering both digital assets and fiat foreign exchange—digital-asset exchanges are executed through the digital-asset liquidity partners engaged by the trustee, and fiat-to-fiat exchanges through foreign-exchange liquidity partners (both initiated from the same entry point; fiat exchanges settle within the corresponding fiat sub-account and do not require custody to be activated). Quotes include a market spread, plus a separate platform conversion fee (see Fees). Quotes are valid for a short time, and confirming a trade constitutes an irrevocable exchange instruction; the purchased assets are credited to the same account once settlement is complete. The platform does not provide order-book, leveraged or derivatives trading.

Withdrawals

The withdrawal address must be pre-registered on the whitelist and reviewed by the trustee; once approved, a 24-hour cooling-off period applies, and a withdrawal can only be initiated after it has elapsed. The withdrawal request is then subject to a further approval by the trustee before the custodian signs and broadcasts it on-chain.

Use as Collateral and for Repayment

Digital assets can be pledged into the card collateral pool—at their collateral ratio (stablecoins 90%, BTC/ETH 70%, others 50%)—to obtain a credit line (see Credit Line & Pledging); they can also be disposed of at an RFQ quote to offset your card statement (see Statements & Repayment).

Product Highlights

• Physical card, managed online: the card is delivered in physical form; viewing card details, locking the card, setting limits, and handling statements and repayment can all be done online in the portal.
• Secured by collateral: your spending limit is secured by the collateral assets in your account (limit = collateral pool × 1:1); the assets remain within your trust account and are merely registered as a lien—no transfer takes place.
• Shared credit line: all cards in your name share a single credit-line pool; collateral and cards are independent of each other—opening a card does not require pledging at the same time, and collateral can be adjusted at any time.
• Full-repayment card: the card operates on a charge basis—the statement must be settled in full by the payment due date, with no revolving interest.

Who Can Hold a Card

Cardholders are limited to the settlor of the trust or a beneficiary of the trust (both having completed KYC when the trust was established, so only confirmation of their file is needed on application); each person may hold one active card.