Ms Saunders,
SK TANG BEQUEST
Reference
pa: Skraus Schol. To
22 JAN 197
Mr Morris,
Mr Ricketts
MW B2 785.
*STRY
22 AM 1013
༢་
GISTRY
Taker.
State of play:
1.
We have finally had good news on the sang Bequest. The Treasury Solicitor has elicited a recommendation from the Solicitor General (S G) at the Law Offices (papers attached). We now have to decide how the bequest is to be administered.
Background:
2. The SG has recommended a direction under the Sign Manual which distributes the funds on terms indicated by S K Tang, namely that only the interest may be used (para 4). of the interest, one third was to go to a medical trust such as cancer research and two thirds to go to Hong Kong students to study in the United Kingdom, administered by the British Council if this could be arranged (para 1).
3.
The SG recommends that setting up a separate trust, as the Charity Commission were suggesting, would involve extra administration and is unnecessary. Unless the FCO wished to be directly involved in the day to day administration of the money, a group of trustees would merely become an extra layer of bureaucracy and cost (para 10-12). Instead he suggests that we treat the bequest as a "money box", with the capital paid over to the Imperial Cancer Research (ICR) and the British Council on suitable terms, without any further FCO involvement in how the income is administered (para 13)
4.
•
If we agree with this recommendation, two documents would be needed; a Sign Manual and a Declaration of Trust requested by the British Council (para 14). The draft Declaration of Trust produced by the British council in 1988, we felt was over-elaborate and in some respects inconsistent with the Bequest (para 7). The British Council wished to be able to use both the capital and income which we objected to and we felt instead that we should be allowed to administer the funds through the British Council. Thus we would need to revise the declaration to ensure it was in line with S K Tang's wishes, the British Council's and ours. For example CRD have pointed out that we may wish to set preconditions on the type of students who can be picked, selecting highflying postgraduates in economics or other subjects.
5.
I propose that I provisionally amend the draft declaration and then, in agreement with CRD and Legal Advisers, decide whether the S G's suggestion will allow us enough control. If not we may have to consider a separate trust, bearing in mind the extra hassles and cost. Grateful for any comments at this stage.
SJ Haspel, Hong Kong Department, 21 January 1993.
Jarah Haspel.
SKTANG/summaryjan
CODE 18-77