Atlas Trust Company Overview

Atlas Trust Company is a licensed Cook Islands trustee that began operations in 2025. The firm is regulated by the Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission under the Trustee Companies Act 2014 and is authorized to act as trustee for international trusts formed under the International Trusts Act 1984.

Atlas entered the Cook Islands market as one of the newer licensed trustees, positioning itself around operational efficiency, transparent pricing, and technology infrastructure. The firm’s CEO, Marcos Almeida, is a qualified lawyer and STEP Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner with experience in the Cook Islands trust industry.

Regulatory Status

Atlas holds an FSC trustee license, which requires minimum paid-up capital of NZD 250,000, professional indemnity insurance, fit and proper person clearance for directors and officers, annual audited financial statements, and periodic regulatory examinations. These are the same licensing requirements that apply to all Cook Islands trustees, including firms that have been operating for decades.

The regulatory framework ensures a baseline of capitalization and oversight. What it does not establish is operational track record, institutional depth, or demonstrated performance under adversarial litigation. Those qualities develop over time and through experience that a newly licensed trustee has not yet had the opportunity to accumulate.

Services and Fee Structure

Atlas provides trustee services for international asset protection trusts, Cook Islands LLCs, and related structures. The firm’s service model emphasizes flat-fee pricing that bundles trust administration, asset transfers, LLC management, trust amendments, and distribution processing into a single annual fee rather than itemizing each transaction separately.

This bundled approach can reduce total costs for clients who make frequent transactions or require regular administrative changes. Some longer-established trustees charge separately for asset transfers ($500 to $1,500 per transaction), LLC manager appointments ($750 to $1,000), and trust amendments ($1,000 to $2,500). Over a multi-year period, these itemized charges can be significant.

Atlas also handles trust protector coordination, investment advisor liaison, and duress clause administration. The firm accepts digital assets including cryptocurrency and maintains technical infrastructure for digital asset custody.

Client Onboarding

Atlas conducts standard KYC and AML screening during client intake, including identity verification, source of funds documentation, background checks, and litigation history review. Enhanced due diligence applies to higher-risk profiles, including clients with active or recent litigation, complex corporate structures, or asset provenance that requires additional documentation.

Onboarding timelines typically run four to six weeks from initial inquiry to trust execution and account establishment, consistent with industry norms. Complex structures or international banking arrangements may extend this timeline.

Considerations

Atlas operates with some advantages that come with being a newer entrant to the market. Its systems were built for current regulatory and technological requirements rather than adapted from legacy infrastructure. Clients who value direct communication, digital account access, and streamlined processes may find Atlas responsive relative to some larger institutional trustees.

The trade-off is institutional history. Trustees like Southpac (established 1982), Portcullis (1987), and Asiaciti (operating in Cook Islands since 1986) have multi-decade operating histories that include direct experience defending trusts through contested creditor proceedings. They have established crisis management protocols, long-standing banking relationships, and organizational continuity that has been tested through economic cycles, regulatory changes, and sustained legal challenges.

Atlas has not yet faced those tests. This is not a criticism of the firm’s competence or intentions. It is a factual limitation that applies to any new entrant in any industry where institutional durability matters. Cook Islands trust administration is a field where the trustee’s willingness and capacity to resist creditor pressure over extended periods is central to the trust’s protective value. Clients evaluating Atlas should weigh the firm’s operational advantages against the inherent uncertainty of an unproven litigation track record.

It is also worth noting that Atlas has a disclosed financial relationship with Blake Harris Law, a U.S.-based asset protection firm. This relationship does not affect Atlas’s regulatory status or its obligations under Cook Islands law.

Selecting a Trustee

Trustee selection is one of the most consequential decisions in Cook Islands trust planning. The trustee holds legal title to the trust assets, administers the trust under Cook Islands law, and serves as the primary barrier between creditors and trust property. A trustee’s institutional quality, regulatory compliance, financial stability, and willingness to defend the trust under pressure determine whether the structure performs as designed when it matters most.

Atlas Trust Company is one of several licensed options available to clients establishing Cook Islands trusts. The right trustee depends on the client’s specific circumstances, including asset types, administrative complexity, risk profile, and how much weight they place on institutional track record relative to operational efficiency and cost.

For guidance on evaluating Cook Islands trustees, see how to choose a Cook Islands trustee. For profiles of other licensed trustees, return to the Cook Islands trust companies overview. For comprehensive information about Cook Islands trust planning, see the Cook Islands trust overview.