White Paper

LEGEX White Papers represent the research publications of the Observatory on Wealth & Capital, a reaserch project dedicated to analysing the transformations affecting wealth management, international capital flows and global tax frameworks.

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In an economic environment characterised by increasing capital mobility, evolving tax regulations and growing competition among jurisdictions, understanding the dynamics governing private and institutional wealth has become strategically relevant.

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LEGEX White Papers aim to provide structured analysis and long-term perspectives on key issues in wealth governance and international finance.

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The Observatory’s research is organised around five main pillars:

1. International taxation of capital
Developments in global tax regulation and cross-border wealth planning.

2. Wealth governance
Structures for managing and transmitting wealth, including family offices and long-term governance frameworks.

3. Geography of capital
Investment flows and competition among financial jurisdictions.

4. Institutional economics
The role of legal stability, institutional credibility and the rule of law in attracting capital.

5. Turin and the North-West in the European financial landscape
Opportunities and perspectives for the region in the context of international investment.

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Through these publications, LEGEX aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between law, institutions and capital, offering analytical tools for investors, financial professionals and institutional stakeholders.

International capitals and opportunities for Turin

 

This white paper examines Turin’s strategic potential as a destination for international capital in 2025. It analyzes global wealth migration trends, investment flows, and the factors that position Turin as an attractive location for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs), family offices, and investment funds. The paper highlights Italy’s legal and fiscal incentives, the role of local professionals, and Turin’s emergence as a discreet, stable, and culturally rooted hub for global investors.

Comparative Study on International Inheritance Taxation

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This White Paper provides a comparative analysis of the main models of international inheritance taxation, with particular focus on the connecting factors used by jurisdictions to bring transfers mortis causa within their taxing rights. The increasing mobility of high-net-worth families, the geographical dispersion of assets and the use of instruments such as trusts, foundations, holding companies and life insurance policies make it increasingly common for several States to assert taxing rights over the same estate. The study distinguishes between systems based on the position of the deceased, systems based on the heir or beneficiary, territorial models based on the situs of assets, and jurisdictions with no genuine inheritance tax but not necessarily no taxation at death.

The International Trust in the Era of Tax Transparency​

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For decades the strength of the international trust lay in the combination of asset segregation and confidentiality. The first is intact; the second no longer exists. Automatic exchange of information, beneficial ownership registers, DAC6 and the EU's 2024 anti-money-laundering package have made every fiduciary structure fully visible to the authorities of every State concerned — and have shifted the centre of gravity of taxation from the vehicle to the persons.

This white paper offers a comparative analysis of how four jurisdictions treat the trust today: Italy, which with Art. 4-bis TUS has finally codified indirect taxation while policing substance through its sham-interposition doctrine; Switzerland, a fiduciary administration hub without a domestic trust law; Luxembourg, a platform of alternative and complementary vehicles; and the United Kingdom, which after abolishing the non-dom regime has stopped offering the trust as a tax shield to its own residents.

The International Trust in the Era of Tax Transparency​

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International capital does not distribute itself at random. It concentrates, with almost physiological regularity, in a small number of jurisdictions; it avoids others with equal consistency. The conventional explanation — taxation — is only partly true, and decreasingly so. The evidence of the past two decades shows that capital does not simply chase the lowest rate: it chases predictability. It moves towards legal systems that offer certainty of law, institutional stability, effective protection of property, high-quality financial regulation and a professional infrastructure capable of structuring, administering and defending wealth over time.

LEGEX International Capital Index - 2026

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​The LEGEX International Capital Index is the annual publication by the Observatory on Wealth & Capital that examines the relationship between international private capital, legal systems, and regions. This first edition analyzes the attractiveness of Turin and northwestern Italy to international private capital, foreign investors, family offices, funds, and financial operators, comparing the region with Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom.

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