Nominees for private banking team of the year for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Private Client Awards have been revealed as ...

Nominees for private banking team of the year for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Private Client Awards have been revealed as Citigroup, UBS and HSBC. The STEP awards, the first ever, are to be held on 26 September 2006 in London. The shortlists in other categories read like a “Who’s Who” of private client solicitors, accountancy firms, barristers and trust managers. The awards process is thorough and independent and entries consist of a written submission of up to 1000 words. Nominees are judged by their achievements over the past year and according to the category criteria. Wilson Cotton, director at Smith & Williamson and chair of the judging panel said: “These awards are about recognising private client excellence in practice. They are rigorous and entries are judged by their peers on our judging panel and our panel of experts.” The awards evening will commence with a champagne reception, followed by a three course dinner after which the winners will be announced. The judges are Wilson Cotton, Shân Warnock-Smith QC, Paul Stibbard partner at Baker & McKenzie, Rosemary Marr, director at Pentera Trust, George Lyall, partner at Dickinson Dees, Russell Bussey, Vice-President at AllianceBernstein Global Wealth Management and Andrew Young partner at Lawrence Graham. Awards sponsors include Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Ernst & Young, Guernsey Finance, GAM, Ansbacher, and the BVI Finance centre.