For ultra-high and high net worth families living, investing and doing business across borders, Labuan brings trusts, foundations, holding companies and a family office together under Malaysian law. We establish them, act as your trustee and look after them for the generations to come.
Speak directly to a trustee about your family's plans.
We act for ultra-high and high net worth individuals and families resident outside Malaysia.
Succession, asset protection and continuity when family members, assets and businesses sit in different countries.
Explore trusts and foundations →A neutral Asian base to hold a business, plan a liquidity event or expand across the region.
See a Labuan base →Lawyers, accountants, bankers and IFAs, under formal introducer agreements.
Become an introducer →Shariah-compliant trusts and foundations for families planning within faith.
Speak to a trustee →Many of the families we work with live in one country, hold assets in several and do business across Asia. A Labuan base brings it together, with a regulated trustee looking after it.
Founders, the next generation, beneficiaries
Owns the structure and sets the rules of succession. IWG Trustee acts as trustee or administrator.
Investments, property and shareholdings
A Labuan private fund managing family capital
Trading or services across Asia, with real substance in Labuan
Non-trading holding companies pay 0% on investment income, and trading companies 3% of audited net profits, where substance requirements are met.
A Labuan trust or foundation separates family assets from personal risk, with a statutory firewall against foreign succession, marriage and insolvency orders.
A Labuan company with genuine operations can apply for employment passes for the professionals it employs, with dependant passes for spouses and children, subject to approval.
100% foreign ownership, no exchange controls with non-residents, Islamic finance expertise and a centre now ranked 44th in the world.
Tax, substance and immigration outcomes depend on your circumstances and on approval by the relevant authorities. We work alongside your own legal and tax advisers.
Labuan is a Federal Territory of Malaysia and a regulated International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC), supervised by the Labuan Financial Services Authority under Malaysian federal law.
It offers common-law trusts and civil-law foundations in an Asian time zone, between the Gulf, Europe and North Asia, with a reputation built on regulation rather than secrecy.
A stable legal base, supervised by Labuan FSA.
Your trustee works the same hours you do.
Common-law and civil-law vehicles, including Shariah-compliant options.
A Labuan trust or foundation can run in perpetuity. Assets pass on the terms you set, not a probate timetable.
A Labuan court will not set aside a valid trust on a foreign succession, marriage or insolvency order (Labuan Trusts Act 1996, s.10).
Qualifying Labuan business activity is taxed at 3% of audited net profits, or 0% for non-trading holding, where substance requirements are met.
100% foreign ownership, no exchange controls with non-residents, and selected access to Malaysia's 70-plus tax treaties.
We set up each structure and stay with you as trustee or administrator for its whole life.
Discretionary, reserved powers, purpose, charitable and Shariah-compliant trusts.
Discuss a trust →A separate legal entity with perpetual life, familiar to civil-law families.
Discuss a foundation →Hold a Labuan holding company while the family keeps running the business.
Discuss a special trust →Corporate trusteeship, escrow arrangements and protected cell company cells.
Discuss a corporate mandate →Trusteeship, accounting, regulatory filings and distributions, year after year.
Talk to an administrator →Thirty minutes, no fee. We listen first, then tell you plainly whether Labuan fits — or whether it does not.
We map your family, assets and goals, working alongside your own lawyers and tax advisers.
Due diligence, documentation and registration with Labuan FSA where required.
Trusteeship, accounts, filings and distributions, with an annual review together.
A small, senior team. When you call IWG Trustee, you reach someone who knows your family and your structure.
We built IWG Trustee for families who think in generations. Our job is to give them a calm, well-run home for what they own, and to still be there when the next generation takes over.
The developments we are discussing with clients this season. Updated 20 October 2026.
The latest GFCI ranking moves Labuan into the Specialised Centre category, with wealth management, Islamic finance and captive insurance cited among its strengths. It is the centre's third rise in a row.
Source: The Borneo Post →Labuan IBFC reports growing interest from Middle Eastern institutions and family offices looking for Shariah-compliant ways to preserve and invest wealth, alongside continued emphasis on real economic substance.
Source: The Star →Malaysia's 2027 Budget focused on living costs and fiscal risks. KPMG's summary of the proposed tax measures lists no changes targeting Labuan trusts, foundations or the wider IBFC regime.
Source: KPMG →Under MAS's revised framework, qualifying single family offices need no licence but must notify MAS, bank with a MAS-licensed bank and file an annual return. Existing offices have until 15 June 2027 to comply.
Source: Allen & Gledhill →Updated Federal Tax Authority guidance confirms individuals can settle personal investments and property into a family foundation without corporate tax on the transfer, and limits the 0% family office rate to regulated offices.
Source: BSA Law →Jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands began applying the OECD's amended Common Reporting Standard this year, widening what counts as a financial asset and tightening self-certification for new accounts.
Source: Maples Group →A private 30-minute consultation, by video or in person, with no fee and no obligation. Tell us about your family and what matters to you, and we will tell you plainly whether a Labuan base fits.
Please note: we are unable to act for US citizens.