Mourant Senior Associate, Chris Duncan has qualified as a trust and estate practitioner (TEP), obtaining full membership with STEP. This achievement comes hot on the heels of his recognition in both the UK and Channel Islands Top 35 under 35 eprivateclient lists for 2018.
Chris, who is part of the firm’s International Trust and Private Client practice, recently qualified as a full member of STEP through the Society’s essay route (completing all essays in 2018), a pathway to membership available to experienced practitioners. This is one of the foremost recognised qualifications in the trust and private client industry and demonstrates a practitioner’s level of expertise in this area.
Mourant partner and head of International Trust & Private Client in Guernsey, Matthew Guthrie, said: “Chris’ completion of the required essays in one year to become a full STEP member is a clear demonstration of his commitment to his field of work and we are very proud of his achievements. As a firm we are really proud of our professional development programme which encourages team members to grow. We believe that giving our people the tools to develop and achieve their career ambitions with us helps us as a firm to consistently deliver unrivalled client service.”
Chris said: “Obtaining full STEP membership has allowed me to further my trusts and private client knowledge and externally it is a key indicator of expertise within the industry. The Mourant culture of enabling and supporting people to excel and grow has been a key factor in my becoming a TEP and I know the firm really values this achievement.”
Chris’ growing practice involves advising trustees, beneficiaries and corporate service providers on a wide range of non-contentious and contentious trust related matters, with a particular focus on complex and high value advisory matters in the trusts and private client context. Chris, with his background in Guernsey commercial litigation, has been involved in a number of high-profile trust applications and cross-border tax investigations, including the first challenge in Guernsey to a notice issued pursuant to a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) and the first unexplained wealth order (UWO) issued by the High Court in England.
