Lighthouse on
the Cook Islands: International Trusts, LLCs, and Foundations.
Cook Islands international trusts, limited liability companies and foundations in one reference, from formation and governance to creditor claims, litigation and tax, for the counsel who establish, advise on and defend Cook Islands structures.
By the Lighthouse Editorial Board · First Edition
Why it matters
A Cook Islands structure is tested under several Acts at once.
Trusts, LLCs and foundations, together
The International Trusts Act 1984, the Limited Liability Companies Act 2008 and the Foundations Act 2012 read side by side, with a closing chapter on combining the three and a drafting guide.
The creditor’s path in the Cook Islands
Fraudulent dispositions under section 13B, the standard of proof, limitation periods and the solvency test, bars to suit, the non-recognition of foreign judgments under section 13D, and the charging order against an LLC interest.
In the Cook Islands courts and abroad
Procedure, injunctions, freezing orders and disclosure before the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, and Cook Islands structures before foreign courts: contempt, repatriation orders and bankruptcy.
Regulation, tax and reporting in the same book
The Financial Supervisory Commission and licensed trustee companies, Cook Islands taxation, tax information exchange agreements, FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard, beneficial ownership and AML, and U.S. tax and reporting.
30 chapters · 5 appendices · 1,482 printed pages · 160 cases
Inside the pages
Set like the great treatises, built to be used.
The Judgment Creditor's Path
Figure 23.3 sets out the steps a creditor holding a foreign judgment must take to reach the fund of a Cook Islands international trust: sue locally in the High Court within the section 13B and 13K periods, file the affidavit, prove intent and insolvency beyond reasonable doubt, exhaust the settlor's other property, discount punitive and multiplied damages, and recover. Each step is a condition of the next (¶ 2350.06).
The foreign judgment is evidence of the claim, and the High Court decides intent for itself. Recovery reaches only the settlor's interest in the property, under section 13B(1) (¶ 2350).
Included in the appendices
Model Forms and Checklists
The appendices give counsel a model form for each Cook Islands vehicle, with commentary and schedules, each tied to the paragraphs that explain it.
Who wrote it
Written by the people who wrote the statutes.
Lighthouse on the Cook Islands: International Trusts, LLCs, and Foundations is prepared by the Lighthouse Editorial Board. Its Editor-in-Chief is one of the primary authors of the Cook Islands Limited Liability Companies Act and led the committee that prepared the current revisions to that Act, which are pending before the Cook Islands Parliament.
The Board has contributed to limited-liability-company and asset-protection-trust legislation in Nevis, Belize, Wyoming, Delaware, Ohio and North Carolina, and draws on the practice of Lighthouse Trust, a multinational trust company established in 1982 and resident across nine jurisdictions.
Plans and pricing
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All payments are final and are not refunded; see the Library Terms. The library's treatises are reference works for professionals. They are not legal advice, and reading them creates no client relationship with Lighthouse Trust. Prices are in US dollars, and tax is added where it applies.
What's inside
7 Parts, from first principles to practice.
- Part IThe Cook Islands and Its Legal SystemChapters 1–4
- Part IIInternational TrustsChapters 5–11
- Part IIILimited Liability CompaniesChapters 12–17
- Part IVFoundationsChapters 18–20
- Part VCreditor Protection and LitigationChapters 21–25
- Part VITax, Reporting and AMLChapters 26–29
- Part VIIPlanning and FormsChapters 30
- AppendicesAppendices A–E
Lighthouse on the Cook Islands: International Trusts, LLCs, and Foundations
Begin with Chapter 1, free to read.
Chapter 1, The Cook Islands as a Financial Center: Self-Government in Free Association with New Zealand and the Growth of the International Sector, is open to every reader without a subscription.
Read Chapter 1