Founder & Chief Executive Officer
(OFFSHORE FOUNDATIONS & FAMILY WEALTH STEWARDSHIP)
Offshore Foundations
Held in its own name, the assets inside an offshore foundation can be arranged for succession while enduring rules are set for family, private or purpose-driven wealth. Working through licensed providers, Offshore Broker handles the formation, the governing documents, council appointments and any related banking, and every fee is confirmed before you engage us.
(OVERVIEW)
Foundation planning built around your purpose, the people involved and lasting control
Every foundation ought to start from a well-defined governance brief: what property will be contributed, who stands to benefit, which purposes are allowed, how the council reaches its decisions, and what powers, if any, the founder keeps. We weigh those points alongside residency, succession, tax classification, reporting and banking factors, and only then coordinate the jurisdiction, charter, regulations and any supporting entities.
(HOW IT WORKS)
01
Consultation
Together we chart the purpose you intend, the assets, family participants, the beneficiary class, your governance preferences and every connected country.
02
Designing the structure and choosing the jurisdiction
We weigh the Cook Islands and Nevis routes against legal form, founder powers, council obligations, reporting duties and how readily each supports banking.
03
Constitutional documents
Drafting of the charter, regulations or by-laws sets down the foundation’s objects, its governance, the succession rules and any reserved powers.
04
Registering, funding and running the foundation
Once the provider has onboarded you and registration is complete, approved assets can be endowed and any company, custody or bank applications moved forward together.
(OFFSHORE FOUNDATION LISTINGS)
Foundation jurisdictions and the formation services we provide
The statutes, the governance vocabulary and the day-to-day administration vary from one jurisdiction to the next. Look through our Cook Islands and Nevis offerings, then see how each treats legal personality, governing bodies, the founder’s influence and continuing administration.
(AT A GLANCE)
Where an offshore foundation sits among the alternatives
An offshore foundation is a legal person that has no shareholders. The foundation itself owns the assets, and a council or management board runs them under its constitutional documents. By contrast, a trust rests on a trustee relationship, and a company has owners and is usually built for corporate work. Within an international wealth structure, each one can fill a separate layer.
| Structure | Primary role | From | Timeframe | View service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Offshore FoundationCentral governance vehicle
|
Owning assets under the foundation's own name to serve succession, family governance, private aims or charitable objectives. | $6,500 | 2-8 weeks* | Explore |
Offshore TrustFiduciary holding arrangement
|
Under a trust deed, a trustee holds and manages the assets for beneficiaries or for permitted purposes. | $10,000 | 2–8 weeks | Explore |
Offshore CompanyTrading or holding entity
|
Commerce, holding investments, intellectual property, joint ventures, or a subsidiary that a foundation owns. | $2,500 | 2–7 days | Explore |
Offshore Bank AccountBanking and custody tier
|
Payments, deposits, safekeeping of investments and treasury for a qualifying foundation or a company it owns. | $1,000 | 2–6 weeks | Explore |
Precious MetalsPhysical asset holdings
|
Allocated bullion and secure vaulting, set up directly or via an approved entity inside the broader structure. | On request | Varies | Explore |
|
Foundation plus Company plus BankingCoordinated structure
|
Here the foundation supplies the ownership and governance layer, and a company beneath it holds the investments or carries out approved activity. | Quoted | Scope dependent | Discuss |
*The registration clock starts once due diligence is satisfactory, the documents are final and the provider has accepted. Banking and moving assets usually take more time.
Design the structure first, then pick the jurisdictionWalk a Offshore Broker specialist through your objectives, the countries involved, the assets you have in mind and the governance model you prefer.
Book a consultation
Guideline pricing in USD for foundation work and the services around it. Before any formation starts, the scope, the provider’s costs and first-year charges are put in writing.
(COMPLETE PROTECTION BUNDLE)
Offshore Foundation, Company & Bank Account Together
One joined-up structure in which an offshore foundation forms the ownership and governance layer, backed where appropriate by an underlying company and an international account. Through a single point of contact, we run the provider onboarding, the constitutional documents, the company formation and the banking that goes with them.
- Foundation formation and provider onboarding coordinated from start to finish
- Listed first-year registered-agent, council and formation costs included in the agreed scope
- Charter, regulations or by-laws prepared for the selected foundation jurisdiction
- Registered structure prepared for approved endowment, ownership and banking steps
(FOUNDATION USES)
What can an offshore foundation be used for?
A private foundation lets you pair ownership of assets with documented rules covering succession, family involvement, distributions and lasting purposes. Settle its role before you form it, and back it with sound legal, tax, banking and reporting advice in each connected country.
Family wealth governance
Set down how council decisions, support for beneficiaries and family involvement should work from one generation to the next.
Succession planning
Keep foundation-owned assets running smoothly if the founder dies, loses capacity or withdraws from governance.
Holding investments and companies
Keep portfolios, stakes in private companies or the shares of a subsidiary inside a single ownership framework.
Purpose-led structures
Advance family, educational, cultural, charitable or any other purposes the constitutional documents permit.
Administration across borders
Bring assets and beneficiaries spread across several countries under one governing legal entity.
Planning familiar to civil-law families
Adopt an entity-based structure that certain international families and their advisers find easier to grasp than a common-law trust.
(FOUNDATION LOCATIONS)
Cook Islands and Nevis foundations side by side
At present our foundation work centres on two structures: the Nevis Multiform Foundation and the Cook Islands Foundation. The table that follows draws out their differing governance language, legal architecture and typical uses; your final choice must also weigh how your home country handles tax and reporting.
Cook Islands Foundation
A distinct legal entity set up under the Foundations Act 2012, run by a council and backed by a Cook Islands registered agent.
- Relies on a foundation instrument together with foundation rules to lay out objects, governance and administration.
- Assets are administered by the council, which carries out the objects the foundation has stated.
- May be built around beneficiaries, around permitted purposes, or a mix of both that the law and governing documents allow.
- Frequently chosen for enduring private wealth ownership, succession and asset-protection planning based in the Cook Islands.
Nevis Multiform Foundation
A foundation formed under the Nevis Multiform Foundations Ordinance, with its constitution specifying how the entity is to be treated.
- Under the Ordinance, the stated multiform can take the shape of a foundation, a trust, a company or a partnership.
- That chosen form may be altered while the foundation exists, provided the constitution and the law are satisfied.
- It must have a Nevis registered agent, a registered office, a management board and a secretary.
- Can serve estate planning, charitable work, financing or specialised investment-holding arrangements.
Your choice of jurisdiction should also take in the founder's residence, the assets proposed, tax classification, disclosure duties, how the council is composed, banking acceptance and professional advice in each connected country.
(EXPERTISE)
The foundation specialists on our team
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)
Guides on foundations and insights into private wealth
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(OFFSHORE FOUNDATIONS EXPLAINED)
What is an offshore foundation?
An offshore foundation is a legal entity created under the foundation statutes of a foreign jurisdiction. No shares are issued, and no shareholders own it. After assets are properly contributed, the foundation holds them under its own name, and its governing body administers them per the constitutional documents for the named beneficiaries, objects or purposes.
The way a foundation’s governance is arranged
It is the founder who sets the structure in motion and fixes its opening design. Administration falls to a council or management board, and, where the jurisdiction and documents allow, a protector, guardian, enforcer or supervisory body may watch over particular decisions. Within the charter, foundation instrument, regulations or by-laws sit the objects, the decision-making rules, the beneficiary provisions, the succession arrangements and any tightly limited reserved powers.
Choosing the governing law and the providers
Weigh the legal framework alongside the founder’s residence, tax classification, reporting duties, the asset transfers you plan, public-filing rules, record-keeping standards, how the council is made up, registered-agent requirements and access to banking. The Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission includes the Foundations Act 2012 among the legislation it administers, whereas the Nevis Financial Services Regulatory Commission sets out the multiform framework and what establishment requires. Offshore Broker arranges formation via licensed providers, yet clients should still take independent legal and tax advice in every connected country.
(OFFSHORE FOUNDATION PRIMER)
Getting to Grips with Offshore Foundations
How is an offshore foundation structured?
A foundation stands as a legal person in its own right. With no shareholders, it looks to its constitutional documents to set out why it exists, how it is run and who can benefit.
Having established the foundation, the founder contributes the opening property, and the foundation becomes the legal owner of assets once they are properly transferred. Everyday authority lies with a council or management board, not with directors answering to shareholders or a trustee holding property under a trust.
The operating framework comes from the charter, foundation instrument, regulations or by-laws. These can cover beneficiary classes, permitted purposes, distributions, investment powers, how the council is renewed, amendment procedures and the situations in which the foundation may wind up.
According to the jurisdiction, a further protector, guardian, enforcer or supervisory body may keep watch over certain decisions. Where investments, contracts or banking run more smoothly through a corporate subsidiary, an underlying company can be added too.
- Assets contributed to the foundation become its own, in line with the governing law and the transfer documents.
- While the founder sets the opening purpose and governance design, they hold no shares.
- Running the entity and recording its decisions falls to the council or management board.
- Benefits can flow to beneficiaries, or the foundation can advance its permitted purposes.
- Obligations for the registered agent, record-keeping, reporting and yearly administration carry on once registration is done.
We pull together the provider, the constitutional documents, registration and any connected company or banking workstreams.
Discuss a foundationWhy use a private foundation?
By joining legal personality to a purpose-built governance framework, the foundation model can help when assets, relatives or goals reach across borders.
Ownership with no shareholders
Property sits in the entity's own name. Because there are no shares to hand from one owner to the next, continuity can hold steady when the founder dies or the family's situation shifts.
Family governance in writing
Rather than resting on informal family expectations, decision rights, council appointments, support for beneficiaries, investment parameters and succession steps can all be set down in the constitutional documents.
Adaptable beneficiary or purpose design
Where the governing law allows, a foundation can back named beneficiaries, a class of beneficiaries, set private purposes, charitable purposes, or a blend of permitted objectives.
Consolidated ownership
Investment accounts, shares in private companies, an underlying holding company and other approved assets can be gathered under a single legal owner, cutting down scattered administration.
Comfortable ground for some civil-law families
For clients and advisers used to foundation-based legal systems, an incorporated entity run under a charter can feel more intuitive than a common-law trust.
Who controls and oversees a foundation?
Although the titles vary from place to place, every role ought to carry a clear function and a defined link to the constitutional documents.
Founder
Brings the foundation into being, fixes its opening design and contributes property. Reserved powers, if any, should be kept purposely narrow and checked by professionals.
Council or board
Manages the assets, signs off on decisions and delivers the foundation's objects, keeping to the law and the governing documents.
Beneficiaries
Individuals or classes who might receive distributions or other benefits, within the foundation's terms and the governing body's authority.
Protector or oversight role
Can sign off on named actions, keep an eye on governance, or appoint and dismiss decision-makers where the law and documents allow.
Registered agent
Supplies the statutory presence, keeps the required records and deals with registry or compliance matters in the jurisdiction of formation.
Underlying company
Can hold investments, accounts or business interests, with the foundation owning the company and providing the outer governance layer.
What may a foundation hold or support?
Whether an asset fits turns on the transfer rules, on local law and tax advice, on custody arrangements, and on whether a subsidiary is needed.
- Investment portfolios: cash, securities, funds and private investments, held either directly or via an approved company or custodian.
- Private-company interests: the shares or membership interests that arrange family enterprises, holding companies or shared investments.
- Family governance: schooling, maintenance, medical care, entrepreneurship and other beneficiary-support policies recorded over time.
- Philanthropic and purpose activity: charitable, educational, cultural or private purposes that the relevant legislation allows.
- Intellectual and collectible assets: rights, artwork or other specialised property, once valuation, custody and transfer formalities have been handled.
- Bank and custody accounts: accounts held in the foundation's name, or in that of a company it owns, where the provider approves.
Real estate located locally, regulated businesses, retirement assets and jointly held property may each need their own review before any transfer.
Setting up an offshore foundation, step by step
Rather than one filing, formation runs through legal design, the provider's due diligence, registration and the transfer of assets.
Define the outcome
Pin down the assets, beneficiaries, purposes, succession goals, family roles and the countries tied to the structure.
Choose the jurisdiction
Weigh legal personality and governance, the reserved powers, administration, disclosure, banking, and how the home country treats it.
Design the constitution
Draft the charter, instrument, regulations or by-laws, and share out responsibilities between the founder, the council and the oversight roles.
Complete due diligence
Supply certified ID, proof of address, source-of-wealth information, source-of-funds records and particulars of the participants.
Register the entity
Name approval, statutory appointments, the registry filing and issuing the formation documents are all completed by the licensed provider.
Endow and operate
Approved assets move across, governance records begin, and any company, bank, custody or investment applications are taken forward.
Cook Islands or Nevis?
Each jurisdiction offers a statutory foundation regime, yet their terminology differs and so do the planning features on offer.
Cook Islands Foundation
Formed under the Foundations Act 2012, it works through a council, a registered agent, a foundation instrument and rules, and can be arranged for beneficiaries or permitted objects.
Nevis Multiform Foundation
It carries a stated multiform and may be treated as a foundation, a trust, a company or a partnership. Its framework takes in a management board, a secretary, a registered agent and a registered office.
- Think through how the founder's and the beneficiaries' home countries will classify the foundation.
- Make sure banks, custodians and counterparties grasp and accept the legal form you have chosen.
- Weigh how the council or board is composed, provider availability, yearly fees and record-keeping duties.
- Go over the asset-protection provisions and the timing of transfers with qualified counsel before anything moves.
Foundation, trust or company?
The right vehicle flows from the legal relationship you need, not from a fondness for a given jurisdiction or label.
- Foundation: a legal person with no shareholders, which owns its assets and is run by a council or management board.
- Trust: a legal relationship in which a trustee holds title to the assets for beneficiaries or for permitted purposes.
- Company: an entity owned by shareholders or members, typically used for trading, holding investments or operations.
- Combined structure: a foundation can own a company, letting governance and succession rest above corporate operations or investment accounts.
Even when two structures chase similar commercial or family aims, their tax classification and reporting can diverge considerably.
Who may consider an offshore foundation?
A foundation tends to make the most sense when lasting governance and cross-border continuity are worth the bespoke documents and ongoing administration they call for.
- International families bringing together beneficiaries, residences and assets that span several legal systems.
- Families rooted in civil-law jurisdictions who favour an incorporated foundation model over a common-law trust relationship.
- Business-owning families mapping out how company interests will be governed or passed on across several generations.
- Founders driven by purpose-led aims touching on education, culture, philanthropy or set family programmes.
- Investors running multiple asset-holding entities who want a single enduring ownership and governance layer.
- Family offices needing written council succession, oversight and decision-making procedures.
A foundation can be the wrong fit when assets are small, when a will or a domestic structure would meet the goals, or when the founder will not take on formal governance, disclosure and yearly administration.
We weigh the foundation structures on offer against your assets, family situation, residency and professional advice.
Book a consultation(OFFSHORE FOUNDATION ANSWERS)
Questions people often ask about foundations
An offshore foundation is a distinct legal entity formed under a foundation statute, and it has no shareholders. Assets properly contributed to it are held in its own name, with a council or management board administering them under the constitutional documents for beneficiaries, objects or permitted purposes.
After an asset is validly transferred, the foundation holds legal ownership, not the founder, the council members or the beneficiaries in a personal capacity. The formalities differ by asset type and are worth reviewing before you proceed.
A trust is a legal relationship where a trustee holds assets under a trust deed. Ownership of a company runs through shares or membership interests. A foundation, by contrast, is an incorporated legal person with no shareholders, governed by a charter, rules, regulations or by-laws.
What is needed varies with the jurisdiction. Common items usually include an internal set of rules or by-laws, a foundation instrument or memorandum, a council or management board, a registered agent, and due-diligence papers for the founder and other relevant participants. In Nevis, a secretary is required as well.
Yes, so long as the governing documents, the provider and the applicable law allow it. A foundation can hold company shares or membership interests and can apply for an account under its own name. In other situations, a company the foundation owns opens the operating, investment or custody account.
Our main foundation services cover both the Nevis Multiform Foundation and the Cook Islands Foundation. Within the Cook Islands a council-based regime runs under the Foundations Act 2012, while Nevis applies a multiform framework that can declare a foundation, trust, company or partnership form.
Once the provider accepts the application, due diligence wraps up and the constitutional documents are finalised, the registry stage can finish within a few business days. Tailored drafting, complicated participants, asset transfers and bank onboarding tend to lengthen the whole implementation.
In its formation jurisdiction, a foundation usually carries yearly registered-agent or administration fees alongside record-keeping and governance obligations. Where they reside, the founder, the beneficiaries, council members or connected entities may also face tax, beneficial-ownership, financial-account or foreign-entity reporting. Taking independent advice before formation, and before any assets move, is essential.
(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.
