Trust Account Onboarding Guide

Overview

A trust account is a brokerage account registered under a legal trust to manage assets for the benefit of specific individuals or entities. Trust accounts differ from individual accounts in their legal ownership and the documentation required for compliance and regulatory purposes, including the Trust Deed, the identification of grantors, trustees and beneficiaries, and specific details regarding the trust’s identifications.

Integration path

Your integration path is determined mainly by 2 factors:

KYB (Know-Your-Business) Methods Supported:

• DriveWealth Does KYB (DO_KYB): DriveWealth performs KYB checks on new entities (up to 1 week processing time). For KYB approval, DriveWealth requires successful completion of KYC for all directors of the entity, as well as verification of the entity itself.

• DriveWealth Relies on Partner (NO_KYB): DriveWealth relies on the partner’s KYB process, subject to KYB policy and procedure review.

The KYB method used depends on your location, licenses, and AML capabilities. Contact your DriveWealth Relationship Manager to discuss the right approach.

Customer Base

• US Entities Only: DriveWealth auto-generates W9 forms from entity data.

• Foreign Entities: Must provide a valid W8 form via a 3rd party vendor ComplyExchange. You must embed a ComplyExchange white-labeled UI widget for the entity customer to complete the form.

Note that entities cannot begin investing until both KYB verification and W8/W9 validation are complete.

Key Concepts

Onboarding

Step 1. Create a Trust Entity

Collect entity data for onboarding and verification. Field requirements vary by incorporation country.

Create entity sample payload:

Post /entities

{
    "type": "TRUST",
    "attributes": {
        "name": "Testing Trust",
        "incorporationCountry": "USA",
        "incorporationProvince": "CA",
        "incorporationDate": "2019-01-01"
    },
    "identifications": {
        "ein": "878605255"
    },
    "contact": {
        "addresses": {
            "primary": {
                "street1": "123 Main Street",
                "city": "San Francisco",
                "province": "CA",
                "zipcode": "94105",
                "country": "USA"
            }
        },
        "phone": "+15106001234",
        "email": "[email protected]"
    },
    "disclosures": {
        "termsOfUse": {
            "agreed": true,
            "signedBy": "name",
            "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05.228124050Z"
        },
        "customerAgreement": {
            "agreed": true,
            "signedBy": "name",
            "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05.228124050Z"
        },
        "rule14b": {
            "agreed": true,
            "signedBy": "name",
            "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05.228124050Z"
        }
    },
    "investorProfile": {
        "annualRevenue": 100000000,
        "netWorthTotal": 10000000000,
        "investmentObjectives": "GROWTH",
        "riskTolerance": "MODERATE",
        "liquidityNeeds": "SHORT_TERM",
        "investmentExperience": "YRS_3_5",
        "timeHorizon": "MODERATE_TERM"
    },
    "metadata": {
        "myCustomKey": "testingusa"
    }
}

If you subscribe to entities.create event, you should receive a notification when the entity is successfully created. Please refer to entity events for payload details.

Step 2. Upload Trust Deed

DriveWealth requires documentation to verify the legal existence of the Trust and the authority of the individuals acting on its behalf. The Trust must provide a Certification of Trust (or a "short form" Trust Deed/Memorandum of Trust) that includes the legal name of the trust, the date of the trust agreement, the state or jurisdiction of law, and the names of all currently acting Trustees. This document must explicitly confirm the Trustees' power to open a brokerage account and transact in securities.

Best practices

1. Ensure trust names provided in account application match with legal documentation
2. Use high-quality document scans—blurry or incomplete uploads can delay KYB processing.
3. Only upload a short form of the trust deed, do not include the entire trust agreement.

Upload Document API Example:

POST /documents

{
  "userID": "{{entityID}}",
  "type": "TRUST_DOCUMENTS",
  "document": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUh..."
}

Step 3. Add Grantors, Beneficiaries, & Trustees

The trust entity must provide the following individuals for regulatory and compliance purposes:

• Grantor: The individual who creates and funds the trust. Grantors must be over 18 years or older.
• Beneficiary: The individual(s) for whose benefit the assets are managed and who will ultimately receive the proceeds of the account according to the trust's instructions. Minor beneficiaries under 18 years old are allowed in the system.
• Trustee: The individual or institution (e.g., a financial professional or the brokerage firm) legally responsible for managing the assets in the account, including making investment decisions and trades, according to the terms of the formal trust agreement. The trustee acts as a fiduciary, meaning they must act in the best financial interest of the beneficiaries. Individual trustees must be 18 years or older.

Create grantor, beneficiary and trustee as individuals using users API, link to the entity with DIRECTOR_INFO section. Required information include

• Standard KYC information: name, DOB, citizenship, ID number, address, and Photo ID (If Required)
• Director related information: role (grantor, beneficiary, trustee, or a combination of these roles.)

API Example:

POST /users

{
    "username": "test.{{$timestamp}}",
    "password": "passw0rd",
    "userType": "INDIVIDUAL_TRADER",
    "documents": [
        {
            "type": "BASIC_INFO",
            "data": {
                "firstName": "Jane",
                "lastName": "Doe",
                "country": "USA",
                "phone": "2912341122",
                "emailAddress": "[email protected]"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "IDENTIFICATION_INFO",
            "data": {
                "value": "690055315",
                "type": "SSN",
                "citizenship": "USA"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "PERSONAL_INFO",
            "data": {
                "birthDay": 3,
                "birthMonth": 12,
                "birthYear": 1990
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "ADDRESS_INFO",
            "data": {
                "street1": "123 Main St",
                "city": "Chatham",
                "province": "NJ",
                "postalCode": "09812"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "EMPLOYMENT_INFO",
            "data": {
                "status": "Employed",
                "broker": false,
                "company": "MyCo",
                "type": "PROFESSIONAL",
                "city": "Gotham",
                "country": "USA"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "DIRECTOR_INFO",
            "data": {
                "directorList": [
                    {
                        "title": "N/A",
                        "roles": [
                            "BENEFICIARY",
                            "TRUSTEE",
                            "GRANTOR"
                        ],
                        "controlContact": true,
                        "institutionalID": "{{entityid}}"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

Note: Create a user with userType=BENEFICIARY if you need to add a minor beneficiary.

Step 4. Open Trust Account

Create trust account under the trust entity using one of the 3 supported Trust Account Management Types:

Create trust Account API Example:

POST /accounts

{
    "userID": "{{entityid}}",
    "accountType": "LIVE",
    "accountManagementType": "TRUST_SELF",
    "tradingType": "cash"
}

Step 5. Foreign Entities: W-8 Form Completion

Applicable for foreign entities only. US entities can skip this step as W9 forms are auto-generated by DriveWealth.

Foreign entities are required to complete the appropriate W-8 forms through a third-party platform, ComplyExchange. DriveWealth will generate a unique ComplyExchange URL for each entity with certain identification details prefilled. You may either share this URL directly with the entity customer or embed ComplyExchange’s UI within your application to facilitate form completion. An authorized signer from the entity must complete the remaining sections of the form, including critical tax-related information such as Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 status codes.

ComplyExchange offers step-by-step guidance and helpful tools to assist the entity in accurately completing the form. Below is a sample of the ComplyExchange UI. The interface can be customized to align with your branding.

DW will generate a ComplyExchange URL only after receiving account creation requests. You can use the Retrieve ENTITY API to view the entity’s ComplyExchange URL. Alternatively, you will also receive an entities.updated notification if you subscribe to the event.

Example API response snippet:

"taxData": {
  "fatcaData": {
    "applicable": true,
    "applicableFrom": "2025-08-26T19:49:58Z",
    "setBy": "SYSTEM"
  },
  "vendor": {
    "COMPLY_EXCHANGE": {
      "name": "Comply Exchange",
      "taxFormUrl": "https://drivewealth.complytaxforms.com/ServiceRedirect.aspx?UUID=xxx&Language=US",
      "formUrlDate": "2025-08-26T19:50:20Z"
    }
  }
}