Not “Either – Or”: How Bankers and Lawyers Use PPLI to Complement Trusts in Cross-Border Planning

PANEL HOST
Geralda Kral, Managing Partner, UMA Swiss AG (part of The UMA Wealth Group)

SPEAKERS
Dr. Ulrike Helbok , Kaiser Partner Wealth Advisors, Head Legal und Member of the Executive Board

Lyubomir (Lubo) Georgiev, LL.M., TEP , EMEA Tax Knowledge Partner Lead, Partner, Tax / Wealth Management, Baker McKenzie Switzerland AG

Silke Tschatsch, LL.M, Managing Director, Head Wealth Planning Switzerland & Germany at Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd.

Laura Nanette Gambineri-Giese, LL.M. TEP , Vice President, UHNWIs & Family Offices, Crown Global Insurance Group

Riccardo Gambineri, LL.M., PPgD PWA, TEP, President, UHNWIs & Family Offices, Crown Global Insurance Group

Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool to complement—not replace—traditional trust and estate planning strategies in international contexts.

This session will provide a clear introduction to the structure and function of PPLI, followed by a panel discussion on its practical application in cross-border planning, particularly involving US and UK nexus. With insights from legal, banking, and insurance professionals, the discussion will highlight how PPLI is being integrated alongside trusts in complex planning scenarios.

KEY TOPICS INCLUDE:

Succession Planning in Modern Times
What PPLI is—and how it works in practice
Where and when PPLI can add value in international planning
Practical dos and don’ts across jurisdictions
Case examples from legal, banking, and insurance perspectives

Aimed at lawyers, trustees, bankers, and other professionals involved in cross-border wealth structuring and succession planning.

SPEAKERS CV
LYUBOMIR (Lubo) GEORGIEV has practiced law since 2003 in United States and Switzerland. He has assisted insurance companies, banks, fiduciaries, family offices, asset managers, and high net worth individuals in planning with life insurance and annuities; lifetime gifts and trusts; entrepreneur business exits and succession; tax treaties, withholding, and filings; cryptocurrencies; and securities and investment adviser regulatory compliance. Lubo regularly advises on issues relating to universal variable or fixed cash value life insurance and deferred or immediate annuity private placement products; FATCA, QI, QDD, CRS and CARF tax information exchanges; trust and estate planning; expatriation and relocation. His practice focuses on assisting institutional and individual clients with assets or activities involving multiple jurisdictions, including US, UK, EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and UK Crown Dependencies. He is admitted to practice in Washington, DC, US Tax Court, England and Wales, and Switzerland as a foreign-qualified solicitor.

SILKE TSCHATSCH, Head Wealth Planning Switzerland & Germany, Bank Julius Baer. With over 15 years of experience, Silke Tschatsch is responsible for Wealth Planning in Switzerland and Germany at Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. and advises our clients on Wealth Planning issues. This includes topics such as Swiss and German Wealth Planning, succession and philanthropy planning, as well as Swiss tax planning. Before joining Julius Baer, she worked as a tax consultant for auditing firms in Munich and Zurich between 2005 and 2017, where she primarily advised European private clients on their Wealth Planning issues. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Münster in Germany.

LAURA GAMBINERI advises ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, and their advisory teams on the strategic use of Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) through VivaInsurance Services GmbH, a tied intermediary acting on behalf of Crown Global for clients domiciled outside Switzerland.
She brings deep expertise in international wealth structuring, with a focus on integrating PPLI into complex estate and trust-based planning — particularly in U.S. and U.K.-connected cases. With a strong grounding in common law trust frameworks and family governance, Laura ensures insurance solutions are aligned with long-term goals such as asset protection, succession, and continuity.
A full member of STEP, she combines technical structuring with a governance-informed lens, drawing on her broader work with families to support lasting and compliant planning outcomes.

RICCARDO GAMBINERI leads Crown Global’s international private placement life insurance (PPLI) strategy through VivaInsurance Services GmbH, a tied intermediary acting on behalf of Crown Global for clients domiciled outside Switzerland. Based in Zurich, he works exclusively with ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, and their advisory teams to structure tax-compliant insurance solutions that support asset protection, long-term liquidity, and investment flexibility.
With deep expertise in common law trust structures and international wealth planning — particularly in U.S. and U.K.-connected cases — Riccardo helps integrate PPLI into complex estate and succession strategies. He collaborates closely with trustees, private banks, and legal advisors to align insurance planning with broader fiduciary and governance frameworks.
A full member of STEP, Riccardo brings both technical insight and practical experience to cross-border structuring conversations at the highest level.

ULRIKE HELBROK, leads the legal department at Kaiser Partner Trust Services Anstalt in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and serves on the firm’s executive management team. She advises clients on national and international legal matters, with a focus on complex and high-stakes issues across jurisdictions. As a principal point of contact for regulatory authorities and courts, she plays a central role in managing sensitive legal processes.
Her work encompasses the establishment and administration of client structures, including the assumption of executive functions within these entities. With a strong academic foundation and wide-ranging professional experience, she brings a high level of expertise to strategic legal matters in the private wealth sector. Ulrike holds a doctorate in law from the University of Innsbruck and has passed both the Liechtenstein bar exam and the Liechtenstein Trustee exam.

PANEL HOST
GERALDA KRAL-BUCKLEY is the managing partner at UMA Swiss AG. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration in the U.S.A and a master’s degree in International Management at the Oxford Brooks University in England. In 2008, she graduated from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in the U.S.A., with an LLM in International Taxation and Financial Services, with a concertation on Trusts and compliance.
In 1999, Geralda returned to Curaçao after her studies abroad, and joined Fortis Fund Services as Manager Shareholder Services. In 2002, Geralda joined Amicorp Curaçao N.V. as Head of the Mexican and US Team, Managing Director Latin America.
In 2008, Geralda was relocated to Zürich, where she became Managing Director of Amicorp Switzerland AG. In 2013, she expanded her responsibilities by also taking on the position of Head of Private Clients for Europe.
In 2014 through 2015, Geralda worked as a Senior Wealth Advisor and Business Developer at Quilvest Switzerland Ltd.
In January 2016 she rejoined The Amicorp Group as their Global Head Private Clients with the responsibility of overviewing the private wealth management solutions and services offered by the group and to support the marketing and business developers of the group with the sale and implementation of structures. Geralda was also part of the Global Family Office Team of The Amicorp Group, servicing UHNW families in, predominantly, Latin America.