Bassem Fawzy

Three things can stop a paycheck here, and only one of them comes with anything automatic attached.

Job loss ends it immediately: there's no unemployment insurance in the UAE the way Canada has it, and end-of-service gratuity is capped regardless of tenure.

A serious disability can end it just as fast, since employer sick pay is limited by law, not indefinite.

Death ends it completely. There's no employer pension or CPP/OAS accrual on income earned here unless you've arranged that separately.

None of these are rare. They're just the ones nobody prices out until they're already living through one.

I look at all three the same way: what replaces the income, for how long, and starting how fast.

30 years doing this — and one thing still makes me pause every time: a trust for a Canadian client without a Canadian tax lawyer in the room.

Trusts are powerful planning tools. They are also, for Canadians specifically, a category where the CRA pays close attention.

The risk is this: if a trust is set up offshore without a clear understanding of how it will be classified under Canadian tax law, the CRA can catch it as a foreign trust. A foreign trust classification carries significant and unpleasant tax consequences. Getting there without proper advice does not just create a problem — it can undo the planning entirely.

I covered this directly at our recent webinar: "the last thing you want, the CRA catches this — the CRA is the Canada Revenue Agency — catches this as a foreign trust, where things get pretty unpleasant. From a taxes standpoint... when it comes to trusts for Canadians, you need to run to your Canadian tax lawyer, to get their blessings on whatever it is that we're going to do."

This applies regardless of the structure being considered — Cayman, portfolio bond, trust, or any combination. If you are Canadian, or if there are any Canadian tax threads in your situation, a qualified Canadian tax lawyer needs to be involved before anything is signed.

Offshore planning and Canadian tax position cannot be designed independently of each other.

This is education, not advice.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC

The most common assumption Canadian expats make about their RRSP is that the holdings can be moved into another structure without triggering tax. They cannot.

This carousel covers what the process actually looks like: the 25% withholding, the disposal requirement, the cash that comes out the other side, and what happens next.

All content drawn directly from our recent cross-border estate planning webinar.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC

One of the most common assumptions I hear from Canadian expats about their RRSP: that the holdings inside it can be transferred directly into another structure — a portfolio bond, a Cayman holding company — without triggering any tax.

That is not how it works.

To move money out of an RRSP, you must dispose of it. The withdrawal is treated as taxable income, and as a non-resident it is subjected to a 25% withholding tax payable to CRA. The Microsoft shares, the Apple, the ETFs inside the RRSP cannot be rolled in-kind into another structure. You dispose of the RRSP, pay CRA the 25%, receive the remaining cash, and then reinvest in whatever structure you have chosen.

On a $1 million RRSP, that means $250,000 stays with CRA and $750,000 moves forward.

The $750,000 can then be placed into a portfolio bond, an insurance wrapper, or another structure depending on your objectives. That investment decision is straightforward. The tax cost of getting there is the part most people have not yet accounted for.

A LIRA operates similarly — the mechanics differ slightly, but the principle is the same. The registered plan must be disposed of and the tax obligation satisfied before the proceeds can move.

This is education, not advice.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC

When people ask why Cayman specifically — rather than any other offshore jurisdiction — the answer comes down to three things: stability, familiarity, and integration.

Stability: Cayman is a jurisdiction built around financial services. It operates with no taxes, no history of political instability, and an established legal system with significant case law. Dominic, an independent Cayman structures specialist, noted at our recent webinar: "it's not likely to change its makeup anytime soon."

Familiarity: Banks, custodians, and counterparties globally know how Cayman vehicles work. US financial institutions in particular operate with Cayman vehicles regularly. That familiarity reduces friction — getting assets into a Cayman structure, opening accounts, and executing transactions is straightforward because the infrastructure exists.

Integration: A Cayman holding company does not sit apart from everything else. It works within broader structures — alongside UAE vehicles, DIFC entities, and ADGM structures. Dominic noted: "Cayman is well used, well known, and we see lots of structures, whether it's with Saudi vehicles, UAE, DIFC, ADGM, Bahraini vehicles — they find ways to make Cayman work within their structures."

This combination of stability, familiarity, and integration is why Cayman specifically, rather than another common law jurisdiction, is the vehicle most frequently used for this type of planning.

This is education, not advice.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC

We have covered the Cayman structure at a high level. This carousel goes into the mechanics — what it actually does, why Cayman specifically, and how the lifetime dimension works.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC

When assets are held personally across multiple jurisdictions, each one triggers its own succession event at death.

A UAE bank account enters the UAE succession process. US-listed shares face the IRS. Canadian assets go through their own process. Each jurisdiction runs separately, on its own timeline, under its own rules. The family deals with multiple parallel proceedings at a time when they are least equipped to do so.

A Cayman holding company changes that dynamic. When assets are consolidated inside the company, the company owns those assets — not you personally. At death, only the shares in the company need to transfer. The underlying assets remain in place. The company continues to operate.

Dominic, an independent Cayman structures specialist, explained this at our recent webinar: "By contrast, where you consolidate all of the assets into the company, the company will continue to exist despite your passing. So, the underlying structure does not change, only the ownership of the shares in that holding company need to be considered."

He also noted the human dimension: "whilst Cayman companies don't attract any taxes, the practical elements of dealing with all of this during such a time can be very traumatic, but knowing that, actually, the company's going to continue to hold all of the assets and nothing's changed is actually very reassuring."

This is education, not advice. Whether a Cayman holding company is appropriate for your situation depends on your assets, objectives, and tax position.

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP
Fellow, Canadian Securities Institute
Vice President (MENA) Elixir Wealth DIFC