The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM) recently accredited a list of accountants to perform accounting services on behalf of Government. The level of accreditation awarded to respective accountants differ, follow the link below for more information.
Future Direct Access to Climate Change Funding
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management is pleased to announce that the Cook Islands Government has contracted the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management to assist in the preparation of an application for direct access to the Adaptation Fund. The Adaptation Fund finances adaptation programs in developing countries who are party to the Kyoto Protocol and vulnerable to the adverse affects of climate change.
The first step in this process is a stakeholder workshop to be held early next year on 16 February 2014.
The Cook Islands Parliament recently passed a number of bills related to the financial services industry which will assist companies in the industry to meet the requirements of the United States of America Foreign Account Tax Compliance and the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
Provision of Customer Information Bill
The Provision of Customer Information Act 2013 removes legislative barriers which currently prevent Banks and Trust Companies operating in the Cook Islands from providing to the tax authorities of other countries information relating to their citizens. The legislation will only apply in respect of those countries prescribed by legislation. It is the Government's intention immediately to identify the United States of America and Australia as countries to which this legislation applies and so enable disclosure by banks and trust companies to the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in Australia.