Family office in Monaco: residence, discretion and a dedicated multi-family office law

Families come to Monaco mainly for residence. Since the Sovereign Ordinance of 1869, Monaco has levied no personal income tax on its residents, with the exception of French nationals, who are taxed in France under the Franco-Monegasque tax convention of 1963, and US citizens, who remain taxable in the United States. There is no wealth tax, and inheritance and gift tax on assets located in Monaco is 0% between spouses and in the direct line (8% between siblings, rising to 16% between unrelated persons). The Principality uses the euro, is in a customs union with France and hosts a dense community of private banks and asset managers, which allows families to keep their family office within walking distance of their bankers.

Monaco is one of the few jurisdictions with a statute dedicated to family offices. Law No. 1.439 of 2 December 2016 regulates the profession of multi-family office (MFO): providing wealth and financial advice and services, on a regular basis, to individuals, families or entities linked to them, including estate planning, administrative and financial monitoring and the coordination of outside providers. An MFO must be a Monegasque société anonyme (SAM), must include the words 'multi family office' in its name and may operate only after authorisation by ministerial order. A credit institution or financial firm regulated under Law No. 1.338 may not hold a majority of its capital, changes in shareholders and directors require prior approval, the MFO may be paid only by its clients, its directors must carry professional liability insurance and its staff are bound by professional secrecy under Article 308 of the Penal Code. Where the MFO receives and transmits orders or gives investment advice — activities regulated by Law No. 1.338 — it also needs prior approval from the CCAF, which then supervises those activities. Discretionary portfolio management for third parties remains a separate CCAF-licensed activity under Law No. 1.338.

The law expressly excludes purely private offices serving members of a single family, so a single family office (SFO) does not need MFO authorisation. It is still subject to the general rule that any commercial company in Monaco needs government authorisation before it starts business: the family files a dossier with the Department of Economic Development, which is reviewed by a government committee, and then incorporates a SAM (minimum capital EUR 150,000) or SARL (minimum capital EUR 15,000). An SFO must stay within its purpose — managing the wealth of one family — because providing regulated services to third parties would bring it within Law No. 1.338 or Law No. 1.439. Many SFOs are organised as service or administrative companies whose costs are borne by the family's holding structures, while the assets themselves are held through foreign holdings, trusts or funds in Luxembourg, Switzerland or common-law jurisdictions.

Compliance has tightened markedly. Law No. 1.549 of 6 July 2023 transformed the financial intelligence unit SICCFIN into the Autorité Monégasque de Sécurité Financière (AMSF), which supervises AML/CFT compliance of banks, management companies, MFOs, company service providers and other professionals, and Monaco keeps registers of beneficial owners of companies and of trusts. The FATF placed Monaco under increased monitoring ('grey list') in June 2024, and the European Union added it to its list of high-risk third countries in 2025; in June 2026 the FATF found that Monaco had substantially completed its action plan, and a decision on removal is expected at the October 2026 plenary. Until then, families should expect enhanced due diligence from banks in other jurisdictions dealing with Monegasque entities. Monaco exchanges financial account information under the CRS.

Corporate tax depends on activity rather than form. The ISB profits tax, at 25% since 2022, applies to industrial and commercial businesses that earn more than 25% of turnover outside Monaco, and to companies receiving royalties from intellectual property; a company earning at least 75% of its turnover in Monaco is generally outside it, and there is no withholding tax on dividends. The tax position of an SFO service company therefore needs analysis with the Department of Tax Services. Monaco suits families who want to live in the Principality, value security and proximity to their bankers, and hold most assets abroad; it is less suited to large investment teams (office space and staffing are expensive and limited) or to French nationals. Monaco's 2017 private international law code allows a person to choose the law of their nationality for their succession, which, together with recognition of trusts created under foreign law by Law No. 214 of 1936, gives families flexibility to plan succession and governance.