Founder & Chief Executive Officer
(OVERVIEW)
Each engagement follows one path: first we grasp your goals, needs and exposure, then we handle building a structure that genuinely suits them, never the other way around.
(OUR SERVICES)
A full offshore package that makes corporate and family entity formation effortless, underpinned by sophisticated, multi-layered structuring approaches, and run entirely through one point of contact.
Six features that define our offshore structures
Effortless formation of corporate and family entities, underpinned by sophisticated, multi-layered structuring approaches, run entirely through one point of contact.
01 · Asset Protection
Offshore Trusts
Split the legal ownership of assets away and put them out of reach of claims that may arise later.
02 · Corporate
Offshore Companies
International companies used for trading, investment and separating liability.
03 · Succession
Offshore Foundations
Standalone legal entities for legacy, philanthropy and succession across generations.
04 · Banking
Offshore Banking
Multi-currency private, investment and EMI accounts held with regulated institutions.
05 · Tangible Assets
Precious Metals
Allocated and segregated gold and silver kept in secure vaults abroad.
06 · Real Estate
Equity Stripping
Lower the attachable equity in property while keeping its use and control.
(AT A GLANCE)
Which structure fits your objectives?
The right offshore structure begins with clarity on what you’re protecting and managing, how you’ll need to reach it, and which legal and banking setting best serves your aims. For guarding assets an offshore trust may fit better, whereas an offshore company can offer a workable basis for international business, holding investments or cross-border activity.
| Structure | Primary use | From | Timeframe | View service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offshore Trust | Protecting assets, planning estates and arranging succession | $10,000 | 2–8 weeks | Explore |
| Offshore Company | Trading internationally, holding assets and separating liability | $2,500 | 2–7 days | Explore |
| Foundation | Planning succession, pursuing philanthropy and governing the family | $6,500 | 2–8 weeks | Explore |
| Offshore Bank Account | Multi-currency banking, custody and settlement across borders | $1,000 | 2–6 weeks | Explore |
| Total Protection | Trust, company and an international bank account coordinated together | $12,000 | 2–8 weeks | Discuss |
Indicative fixed fees (USD). We put every engagement in writing as a quote before any work starts.
(SERVICE & JURISDICTION DIRECTORY)
See which structures are on offer, sorted by entity type and jurisdiction
(TOTAL PROTECTION PACKAGE)
Cook Islands Trust, Offshore Company & Bank Account
A complete fixed-fee structure that pairs the world’s most robust asset-protection trust with an offshore company and international banking, handled for you from beginning to end.
- The whole application handled end to end
- Every third-party cost included, first-year trustee fees among them
- Country-compliant trust documents drafted in full
- Registered, operational and ready to take in assets
(OUR PROCESS)
Four steps, fully coordinated
01
Consultation
A private conversation about your assets, exposure and goals.
02
Exploration
Together we look at the structures on offer and the service providers suited to yours.
03
Formation
On your behalf we handle drafting, filing and liaison with trustees, agents and banks.
04
Ongoing support
Need more structures? Underlying entities or accounts? We handle and support whatever your situation calls for.
(EXPERTISE)
Meet our team of specialists
John Evans
Forbes Business Council Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
More than two decades of experience across offshore banking, asset protection, international companies and trusts.
Melanie Tetuaiteroi
Sales Assistant
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Supports client onboarding, communications, documentation and operational coordination, backed by fiduciary administration experience.
(INSIGHTS)
More to read about the services we provide
Recent Articles
Explore our latest insights, practical guides and updates on international wealth structuring.
Offshore Asset Protection5 min read
When a Cook Islands Trust Will Not Protect Your Assets
Offshore Companies5 min read
Offshore Company Annual Maintenance Requirements
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Bank vs EMI for an Offshore Company
Asset Protection4 min read
When Is It Too Late for Asset Protection?
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Best Offshore Company for Consultants and Agencies
Offshore Foundations4 min read
Offshore Foundation vs Offshore Trust
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What Assets Can a Cook Islands Trust Own?
(JURISDICTION FINDER)
Compare jurisdictions
Pick up to 4 jurisdictions for a side-by-side comparison, or open the full chart. Marked with ★, the Cook Islands and Nevis are our core jurisdictions. Notes for your chosen jurisdictions show up below the table.
(ABOUT OFFSHORE STRUCTURING)
Offshore asset protection, explained
Offshore structuring means lawfully using foreign legal entities — trusts, companies and foundations — to hold assets under a jurisdiction whose statutes give stronger protection than your own. Applied properly and reported in keeping with your home-country obligations, these are well-established, regulated tools for estate planning and managing risk, not instruments of secrecy. Offshore structuring means lawfully using foreign legal entities — trusts, companies and foundations — to hold assets under a jurisdiction whose statutes give stronger protection than your own. Applied properly and reported in keeping with your home-country obligations, these are well-established, regulated tools for estate planning and managing risk, not instruments of secrecy.
Who offshore structures suit
People facing litigation risk, owners mapping out succession, families holding assets across several countries, and investors with property, securities or digital assets spread over borders.
Choosing a product and jurisdiction
Which jurisdiction suits you turns on the type of asset, where you reside and what you’re aiming for. The strongest tested case law sits with the Cook Islands; Nevis requires a substantial creditor bond; Belize gives immediate protection. Before we suggest a structure we weigh these choices against your own situation.
(OFFSHORE SERVICES GUIDE)
Understanding Offshore Services
In what way do we coordinate offshore services?
Before proposing any entity or jurisdiction, we start with why the structure exists, the assets or activities behind it and the countries tied to the client.
We serve as one coordinating hub linking the client to the licensed trustees, registered agents, banks, custodians, vaults and specialist advisers an engagement calls for. Rather than being sold as standalone products, the legal entity, jurisdiction and supporting services are chosen around how they're meant to be used.
With the scope settled, we bring together due diligence, applications, document preparation, provider onboarding and formation. We state fees before starting, though acceptance still rests on each provider's own independent compliance and approval steps.
- Set out the objectives, ownership, assets, activities and the countries involved.
- Weigh up suitable structures, jurisdictions and licensed service providers.
- Bring together identification, source-of-wealth and source-of-funds documentation.
- Handle formation, trustee or agent onboarding and any supporting applications.
- Set up continuing renewals, administration and provider communication as needed.
Begin with a private conversation about your assets, activities, residency and goals.
Book a consultationOffshore trusts for protection, succession and governing the family
By placing chosen assets under the administration of an independent trustee, an offshore trust divides legal ownership from beneficial interests.
Beneficiaries, trustee powers, the distribution framework and administrative rules are all set out in the trust deed. A protector can be named with limited oversight powers, and an underlying company can hold investment accounts, business interests or other approved assets.
Asset protection
When timed and administered properly, a trust may set chosen assets apart from certain future personal claims, subject to applicable law.
Succession planning
Following death or incapacity, the trust can offer continuity without each underlying asset having to be transferred on its own.
Family governance
Oversight provisions and distribution standards can underpin long-term management down through the generations.
International ownership
Within one coordinated structure, a trust-owned company can bring together approved assets and financial relationships.
Look into trustee-led structures built around your assets and your succession goals.
Offshore trustsOffshore companies for doing business internationally and holding investments
As a distinct legal entity, an offshore company can enter contracts, issue invoices, own assets and seek corporate banking or investment accounts.
Which company suits you rests on its activity, management, ownership, the markets it trades in, its banking needs and how it's treated in the countries tied to its directors and owners. It can run on its own or sit beneath a trust, foundation or larger holding structure.
- Consulting, trading and cross-border service work on an international scale.
- Investment, intellectual-property and business-interest holding.
- Entities set up for a single defined asset, venture or transaction.
- Companies sitting underneath a trust or foundation to hold its assets.
- Owning and administering a group across more than one country.
Measure company types, registered agents and jurisdictions against the activity you have in mind.
Offshore companiesPrivate foundations for structured ownership and succession
A private foundation brings together its own legal personality with governance rules laid down in its charter and regulations.
A foundation, unlike a trust, holds its assets in its own name. A council generally administers it, it may name beneficiaries or purposes, and it can include a guardian or protector-style role to watch over specified decisions.
Separate legal ownership
Company shares, investments and other approved assets can be held by the foundation directly.
Defined governance
Council powers, beneficiary rights and distribution rules are laid down by the charter and regulations.
Succession continuity
Under its governing documents, the structure can carry on past the founder's death or incapacity.
Purpose-led structures
According to local law, a foundation may serve private-benefit, family or specified-purpose objectives.
Look at a foundation where legal personality and formal council governance matter most.
Offshore foundationsInternational banking, custody and coordinating accounts
A bank or custody account ought to fit the structure's actual activity, its asset profile, how it transacts and the countries where it operates.
We arrange applications with institutions that might take on the client, entity and jurisdiction in question. Each application still hinges on the institution's own independent risk assessment, due diligence and final approval.
- Coordinating personal, trust, foundation or company accounts wherever suitable.
- Requirements for multi-currency transaction, custody or investment accounts.
- Plain accounts of the business model and the account activity to expect.
- Naming the controllers, beneficial owners and authorised signatories.
- Proof backing source of wealth, source of funds and the transfers planned.
Rather than being handled on its own, banking is coordinated as part of the broader structure.
Offshore bankingPlanning around precious metals and property-related assets
Some tangible assets can sit within a broader offshore structure once ownership, custody, financing and reporting are coordinated the right way.
Allocated precious metals
Allocated gold or silver kept with an independent vault or custodian may be acquired by approved trusts or entities.
Documented ownership
The owner and the assets held should be plainly identified in the purchase, title, storage and insurance records.
Property risk planning
Property abroad may call for local entities, financing arrangements and advice in the country where the real estate sits.
Secured-financing strategies
Where commercially supportable and properly documented, lawful equity-stripping arrangements can round out broader planning.
Bring tangible assets together with the legal ownership and custody framework underpinning the broader plan.
Precious metalsHow does one choose an offshore jurisdiction?
No jurisdiction is best for everyone. The right pick hinges on the structure, assets, activities, owners, beneficiaries, counterparties and the financial relationships needed.
Legal fit
Check that the local company, trust or foundation law backs the ownership and governance you intend.
Provider quality
Weigh the regulation, experience and administration standards of trustees, registered agents and fiduciaries.
Banking access
Think about whether suitable banks, custodians and counterparties will accept the entity and activity.
Tax and reporting
Look over how it's treated in each country tied to the structure and the people controlling it.
Substance and operations
Pin down any local requirements for management, employees, expenditure, accounting or filings.
Total administration
Weigh formation fees, yearly renewals, provider costs and the practical upkeep.
Turn to the comparison tool to look over company and trust features across the jurisdictions on offer.
Open the finderWho stands to gain from coordinated offshore services?
Offshore services help most where a real international, protection, succession or commercial need justifies the extra administration.
- International families holding assets, homes or beneficiaries in more than one country.
- Business owners and founders handling operating risk, ownership, succession or a sale down the road.
- Investors and asset owners keeping portfolios, companies, property or approved digital assets internationally.
- Professionals whose personal exposure may call for planning that goes past insurance and domestic exemptions.
- Family offices bringing together governance, entities, banking and administration across the generations.
- Internationally mobile clients whose residency, tax and reporting position reaches across several jurisdictions.
Offshore structures ought not be used to hide ownership, dodge tax, defeat existing creditors or sidestep lawful disclosure. In every relevant country, independent legal and tax advice should be sought.
Working with licensed providers, we coordinate structures and set out the scope and fees before any work starts.
Discuss your objectives(COMMON QUESTIONS)
We help clients look into and coordinate offshore trusts, offshore companies, private foundations, offshore banking, precious metals and equity protection strategies. On top of that, we coordinate introductions to licensed trustees, corporate administrators, banks, asset managers, accountants and legal professionals.
An offshore trust splits legal ownership from beneficial interests and can support asset protection, succession and estate planning. An offshore company can serve international business, holding investments or separating liability. A private foundation is a distinct legal entity that can support succession, family governance, charitable objectives or holding assets over the long term. What suits you depends on residency, objectives and applicable law.
Yes. Through our offshore banking services, we can help gauge possible banking options, walk through the usual onboarding requirements and coordinate introductions or applications with suitable institutions. Whether an account is approved still rests on each bank's compliance procedures, risk assessment and independent decision-making.
We can coordinate introductions to precious metals providers that offer physical metal acquisition, allocated ownership, secure vaulting, custody and related administration. Which products, storage locations, minimum values and onboarding requirements apply differs between providers and jurisdictions.
Equity stripping is a planning idea that may draw on legitimate secured financing, liens or ownership structures to cut down the unprotected equity exposed in an asset. Any approach must be lawful, commercially supportable and set up with advice from suitably qualified legal, tax and financial professionals.
We help clients compare services across established international financial centres. Within our network the Cook Islands and Nevis are core jurisdictions, while others may come into consideration depending on the trust, company, foundation, banking, custody or asset-holding service required. Which jurisdiction is right depends on residency, objectives, compliance requirements and professional advice.
Things usually kick off with an initial consultation that covers your objectives, residency, asset profile, jurisdiction preferences and the professional relationships you already have. From there we can pinpoint the relevant service categories, talk through possible providers and coordinate introductions, documentation and onboarding steps where it makes sense.
We are not a substitute for your legal, accounting, tax or investment advisers. Our job is to help pinpoint potentially suitable international service providers and coordinate introductions so that appropriately licensed and qualified professionals can advise on your particular circumstances.
(CONTACT US)
Speak to a specialist. Let’s build your structure.
Book a confidential, no-obligation consultation with a senior member of our team to discuss your objectives and the services we have available.
