Richard Pease is new WorldWide Chairman of STEP

The new STEP Worldwide Chairman is Richard Pease TEP of Swiss law firm Lenz & Staehelin. John Riches TEP, of Withers in London, and Michael Young TEP, of Thring Townsend in Bristol, will join Rosemary Marr, of Pentera in Jersey, as Deputy Chairmen of the Society.

Richard Pease said:

“I would like to thank STEP members for supporting me in my appointment as the new STEP Worldwide Chairman. I look forward to working with my Deputy Chairmen Rosemary Marr, John Riches and Michael Young, each of whom has already made a great contribution to the development of the Society and our various activities. I would like to thank Michael Cadesky for his energy and vision in providing a major impetus to the growth of the Society and initiating new projects during his Chairmanship. Due to his guidance the Society is now well placed to meet the challenges ahead.

That there will be challenges is certain. Trust and estate practitioners will be faced with an increasingly complex fiscal and regulatory regime in both a domestic and international context. The continued work of the EU and other supranational bodies will make our lives, and those of our clients, more demanding and the Society will continue to seek to engage in a constructive dialogue with national and international authorities and policy makers.

The Society will continue its plans to develop branches throughout the United States and I would like to see the Society to extend its membership and influence in Continental Europe and other civil law jurisdictions where the focus of our potential members will be on cross-border estate planning. That is an area where I believe we have considerable expertise to offer our fellow practitioners in Europe, while learning from them in turn.”