Keypoint, the Bahrain-based accounting and advisory services firm, and Ogier, a specialist in offshore legal and fiduciary services, have joined forces to create a new professional services firm in Bahrain.

The new business, Two Seas Trust, will offer personal and corporate trust services under Bahraini trust law.  The venture is aimed at the increasing number of corporations and ultra high net worth individuals in the Middle East who are attracted by the confidentiality and flexibility of trusts.

The business will consist of approx 6 directors and professionals at launch.The Bahrain office will open in the next couple of weeks as soon as Ogier has completed the incorporation requirements.

While trusts are a widely used method of wealth management in many western countries, they remain a relatively new practice in the Middle East.  In enacting its 2006 Financial Trust Law, Bahrain was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to respond to the increasing interest in trusts seen in the region.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, chief executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, said:  “Two Seas Trust is a very welcome addition to Bahrain’s thriving professional services sector.  Bahrain is the most established and developed finance centre in the Gulf, with a highly diversified economy, and as such relies heavily upon fiduciary and other professional services to support the wide range of companies based here. 

The choice of Bahrain by Keypoint and Ogier as a location for their new joint venture reflects not only the strong reputation of Bahraini trust law, developed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, but also the business-friendly attitude which makes setting up in the Kingdom both simple and cost-effective.”

Keypoint Consulting is an independent provider of statutory advisory, accounting, fund administration and recruitment services in the Middle East. Prior to 2006 the firm formed part of Ernst & Young Middle East. 

Ogier provides offshore legal and fiduciary services and has a presence in ten jurisdictions: Bahrain, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jersey, London, Montevideo and New Zealand.