-22-
4. What valuation discounts should be given for
a minority interest and a lack of marketability in a
Delaware Business Trust which consists solely of a
portfolio of marketable securities?
During the period March through August 1997, Mr. Sweeney
continued discussions with WTC concerning the formation of a
Delaware business trust to hold certain of the assets of the WTC
trusts and the Revocable Trust. These discussions began with a
meeting that took place on March 4, 1997, between Cynthia L.
Corliss, Mary B. Hickok, and Neal J. Howard, who attended the
meeting on behalf of the trust department legal staff of WTC, and
Mr. Sweeney. Subsequent to this meeting, Mr. Sweeney received a
memorandum from Ms. Corliss, Ms. Hickok, and Mr. Howard, dated
March 6, 1997, stating initial concerns of WTC regarding use of a
business trust. Specifically, the memorandum expressed desire on
the part of WTC: (1) To ensure that none of the WTC trusts would
be subjected to tax on built-in capital gains attributable to
sales of assets contributed by the Revocable Trust or any other
WTC trust; (2) to structure the business trust so that WTC and
decedent remained in the same relative positions as then enjoyed
with respect to control over investment decisions; (3) to obtain
consents from existing beneficiaries of the WTC trusts agreeing
to formation of the business trust; and (4) to have all assets of
the business trust held in a WTC custody account.
Thereafter, Mr. Sweeney and attorneys at his firm undertook
to research and address the concerns raised by WTC. For
Page: Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011