Trump made a big show of divesting his interests in his companies and passing control to his spawn. He did this by signing a document saying “I resign all these posts” and attaching a giant schedule of his holdings. How far did that remove him from control of those companies? Well not a millimetre as far as his Scottish golf courses go according to the company’s statements to the British authorities.
Companies House is an executive agency of the British government under the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Its purpose is to control companies registered in the UK by ensuring that accurate information is available for the public and that they make the statutory returns, like annual company accounts, are properly filed.
Trump has two golf courses in Scotland. The one he controversially built in Aberdeenshire is operated by Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited. One document, a “Confirmation Statement” submitted in November 2016 but operative from September 21, 2016 (p.3 of .pdf) shows that a certain Donald John Trump of 725 Fifth Avenue, New York was registered as a “person with significant control” with effect from April 20, 2016. This was because he “holds, directly or indirectly, 75% or more of the shares in the company”. While his resignation as a director of this company on January 19 is noted, he remains registered as a person with significant control. Moreover if you scroll through the latest available accounts to December 21, 2015 (p.22 .pdf) you will find that this company had an outstanding “Director’s loan” of over £39 million. Page 12 explains:
DJ Trump has confirmed he will ensure all necessary financial support is provided to the company for the foreseeable future to enable it to meet its financial obligations as they fall due for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing the financial statements.
Eric Trump signed the financial statement on September 28, 2016. The Aberdeenshire “resort” is a personal vanity project for Trump and it looks like he has financed it from his own resources without going through the labyrinth of companies that his other course, Turnberry appears to be involved with. Trump has 999 of the 1000 issued shares in the company (.pdf p14)
The shares in the Turnberry company, Golf Recreation Scotland Limited (GRSL) are held by what appears to be an American private company however (p.29 .pdf) we learn:
The ultimate parent undertaking is The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, a New York state grantor trust registered in New York, USA
The ultimate controlling party is Mr Donald J Trump.
One interesting detail is that another Trump company appears to be part of this group:
Now accounts just filed by Trump relating to DT Connect Europe Limited, which was incorporated in February 2015 and is based at his other golf course at Turnberry in Ayrshire, show it, too, lost money last year.
Having recorded losses, both these Scottish-based businesses have escaped paying tax.
DT Connect Europe Limited has three directors – Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Jr.
The exact nature of the business is not clear but its only notable activity was the purchase of an aeroplane from another of Trump’s companies – Delaware-based firm DT Connect LLC – for £1,013,514.
This was part of a “hive up” – where a business or its assets are transferred to the parent company.
This “purchase” was effected by increasing the number of issued shares from 100 to 1,013,614 and transferring the extra shares with a nominal value of £1 to DT Connect LLC. In turn, GRSL sold the “aircraft” (apparently a helicopter) to its own subsidiary DT Connect Europe Limited in return for (you’ve guessed it) 1, 013,514 nominal £1 shares in DT Connect Europe. In other words, a Trump company in America owns the vast majority of Turnberry’s shares in return for selling a helicopter. (see .pdf p26) Could this be the very helicopter Trump turned up in at Turnberry during the election campaign?
Now the position regarding the controlling interest in Turnberry may well be cleared up eventually when the 2017 accounts are filed with Companies House, probably sometime in September 2018. As far as the Aberdeenshire course goes, Trump needs to clarify whether or not he has made arrangements to transfer his interests and how he proposes to honor his undertaking to make good any losses.