Cook Islands Progresses Towards Full Disclosure Next Year
The chairman of the Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission, Trevor Clarke
revealed to AFP yesterday that the operators of offshore companies, banks, trust
accounts and insurance firms will be required to make full disclosure after
June 4 next year as a result of new legislation designed to secure the jurisdiction's
removal from the FATF blacklist. According to the FATF (Financial Action Task Force, an office of the OECD)
the Cook Islands failed to record relevant information on some 1,200 international
firms registered in the jurisdiction and also accused the banking sector of
being inadequately supervised and not requiring firms to identify customers or maintain
their records. Consequently, the jurisdiction was placed on the organisation's
blacklist of uncooperative nations. The FATF's brief to clean up the offshore world caused a glut of legislative
action in the Cook Islands this year, and nine new bills were presented before
the jurisdiction's parliament in June. The bills, containing proposals put forward by the Anti-Money Laundering/Counter
Financing Terrorism Committee, were compiled following a technical assistance
visit from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team earlier this year, and
include a Financial Transactions Reporting Act, which requires the reporting
of local and international money trasfers to a central intelligence unit. Also, new rules will require disclosure of the capital adequacy of offshore firms and on-site inspections. .
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