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Description

Family Holding Companies: Structuring, Cash Flows and Succession

Using a holding company as a management and succession tool without underestimating its constraints

  • 1 day — 7 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Intermediate
  • Up to 6 participants

A family holding company is often presented as the obvious answer for holding shareholdings and organising a succession. In practice it creates lasting obligations: accounts to maintain, flows to substantiate, substance to demonstrate and family governance to keep alive. Poorly designed, it costs more than it delivers.

This one-day programme examines holding structures from a wealth advisory perspective: suitability in light of the family situation, choice of legal form and applicable tax treatment, contribution or sale of shares, upstreaming and deployment of cash, and interaction with gifts and usufruct arrangements. Participants work through complete family situations.

Learning objectives

  • Assess the suitability of a holding company in light of the family and wealth situation
  • Select the legal form and tax treatment appropriate to the project
  • Compare formation by contribution of shares and by acquisition of shares
  • Organise the upstreaming and deployment of cash at holding level
  • Align the holding structure with gifts and usufruct arrangements
  • Anticipate operating constraints and points of scrutiny

What makes this programme different

Every structure is tested against its real running cost over time
Family situations are worked through as far as drafting the governing clauses
Cases where a holding company is not advisable are addressed as explicitly as the others

Programme

1Suitability and choice of structure

Deciding whether a holding company makes sense

  • Objectives pursued by the business owner and by the family
  • Comparison of direct shareholding and holding through a company
  • Choice of legal form and consequences for governance
  • Tax treatment adopted and effects on income received
  • Situations in which the structure is not advisable

2Formation and financial flows

Bringing in the shares and managing cash

  • Contribution of shares and the commitments attached to it
  • Acquisition of shares by the holding company and financing of the buy-out
  • Upstreaming of dividends and the applicable treatment
  • Deployment of cash and diversification of investments
  • Agreements between the holding company and the companies held

3Succession and family governance

Preparing the handover

  • Gifting shares in the holding company and splitting usufruct from bare ownership
  • Shareholders' agreements and control clauses in the constitutional documents
  • Share retention undertakings and monitoring of the related obligations
  • Organising governance across generations
  • Points of scrutiny and risks of challenge

Who is it for

Wealth managers · private bankers · accountants · legal advisers and business owners preparing a succession.

Prerequisites

A working knowledge of personal and corporate taxation principles.

Dates & locations

24 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.