The JV is being established by , which is working with Marcus Parker, a private client lawyer and trustee. The arrangement is subject to approval by regulators, Summit said in a statement yesterday.

Summit, which is based in Geneva, was created in 1999 by Daniel Martineau, Stella Mitchell-Voisin and Robin Lee Smith as Close Trustees Switzerland. The firm took on its current name via a management buyout and the majority stake of Close Brothers was sold to South Africa-based Sanlam Group in 2011. Among recent developments, in 2013 Summit bought a 50 per cent stake in Sable Management Services in Mauritius, renaming the organisation as Summit Trust Mauritius.

“We have been looking for the right partner for two years unsuccessfully, so when Marcus became available recently we jumped on it. Marcus gives us exceptional trust and legal experience on the ground now in Cayman and will be the managing director and a significant shareholder," Martineau, executive chairman of Summit, said.

Parker has over 20 years of experience in the private client industry and was a founding partner of the boutique private client law firm New Quadrant Partners in London in 2010. He moved to the Cayman Islands at the end of 2013. 

“The Cayman Islands is one of the best trust jurisdictions in the world and there is huge potential to create a leading private client focussed trust company,” Parker said.

Summit, which operates an owner-manager model, has shareholder directors in all of its offices in Geneva, London, Mauritius and the Cayman Islands.