Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) in Cross-Border Planning: Structuring Considerations and Practical Insights

SPEAKERS
Laura Nanette Gambineri-Giese, LL.M. TEP, Vice President at Crown Global Life Insurance
Gregory Walsh, Partner at Spencer West Switzerland

MODERATOR
Marlon Jegi , Executive Director of Sophos Advisors GmbH

TOPIC
Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) in Cross-Border Planning: Structuring Considerations and Practical Insights 

• The role of PPLI within broader cross-border wealth structuring, including in U.S. and U.K.-connected planning scenarios
• How legal, banking, and investment perspectives shape the design and implementation of PPLI structures across jurisdictions
• Key structuring considerations, including ownership, control, and coordination with existing frameworks such as trusts
• Practical challenges and common pitfalls observed in cross-border cases, particularly in U.S. and U.K. contexts
• When PPLI can add value within an aligned advisory approach — and where its limitations should be clearly understood

SPEAKERS' CVs 
LAURA N. GAMBINERI-GIESE specializes in private placement life insurance (PPLI) and cross-border wealth structuring, with a focus on U.S. and U.K.-connected clients. At Crown Global, she represents the insurer and works alongside advisors and their clients to design compliant, insurance-based structures within estate and succession planning frameworks.
Her work ensures that structures are not only technically robust, but also aligned with long-term intent and generational continuity.
She holds an LL.M. with Distinction in International Banking and Finance Law from the University of Liverpool and is a STEP-qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP).

GREGORY WALSH is a US-qualified lawyer and a Founding Partner of Spencer West Switzerland, with a practice focus in the areas of International Tax and Global Wealth Management.
He advises private wealth clients, including individuals, families and family offices, as well as financial institutions, on international tax, wealth planning and related matters, to preserve and protect wealth and ensure compliance, while navigating international and global tax and reporting regimes.
Gregory holds a JD and an LLM in International and Comparative Law from Duke University, an LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University, and is a qualified STEP Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP).

STEP Office
Petra Streit
Administration/Events