Reforming the Singapore Trust: Pushing or Breaking Boundaries?

Abstract

<p>This chapter assesses the various enacted and proposed legislative reforms to Singapore’s trust law in the new millennium, including the Business Trusts Act, the Trust Companies Act and the amendments to the Trustee’s Act. We also consider the recent proposal to introduce non charitable purpose trusts. The tricky process of law reform is an interesting setting in which to consider various ‘boundary problems’ in trusts. Can statutory reform refine or sharpen the unclear boundaries of a judge-made trust law rule? To what extent can the conceptual boundaries of the English trust be modified by statute? Do these reforms push the boundaries of the trust to better adapt it to modern circumstances? Or do they threaten to break the institution of the trust altogether?<br></p>