Solutions

The Asset Protection Trust

Utilising the Asset Protection Trust to shelter assets from future claims and/or litigation

The use of the Asset Protection Trust is a popular solution for professional firms and medical professionals or indeed anyone who may be vulnerable to the risk of litigation. For more information, read the guide below or contact us directly to find out how we can assist you.

Benefits & Features of the Asset Protection Trust

This is essentially a discretionary trust where the assets are placed to shelter them from potential future claims. These have increased in use in recent years with the rapid increase, primarily in the USA, of litigation against professional firms and the medical profession.

This straight-forward trust is set up to provide protection from any type of future claim, including creditors’ claims, claims in a divorce settlement and judgments. In order for this trust to provide the maximum level of protection, it needs to be an irrevocable discretionary trust. This means that the power to appoint any part of the trust fund will remain at the full discretion of the trustee.

Depending on the proper law under which the trust is set up, the assets transferred into trust will be sheltered from any potential claim after a set number of years.

  • Those who are at the front line and vulnerable to litigation claims
  • Those who are involved in various business deals and who wish to protect assets from the claims of creditors
  • Protects assets against creditor and divorce claims
  • Can help reduce the taxable estate of the settlor

Only in resident state of beneficiaries.

How to proceed

We would welcome the opportunity to assist you with more information:

Contact us for a FREE consultation if you would like to discuss your requirements with one of our consultants in person.
Alternatively, complete our Online Questionnaire and a consultant will contact you directly.
For professional intermediaries and repeat orders, download the relevant Application Form and return by fax or email.

OCRA Worldwide announces strategic merger with Acclime

17th November 2022, Hong Kong - OCRA Worldwide (OCRA), announces today that it has completed the strategic merger with Asia Pacific’s premier corporate services provider Acclime (www.acclime.com). This is the latest step in Acclime’s active expansion as the Asia specialist in compliance and corporate services throughout the region.

Established in 1975 and led by Bart Dekker and Dharmesh Naik, OCRA is one of the industry pioneers in the corporate services sector with a full suite of corporate services from company formation, company secretarial support, accounting, and HR services. Over the past 40 years, OCRA has become a truly global business by providing very personalised services to their clients, most of whom are private investors or companies investing abroad.

From its founding base in Europe, OCRA has morphed over the past decade to focus on the faster growing markets of Asia and the Indian Ocean, and currently has teams in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mauritius and the Seychelles with around 80 staff. Additionally, OCRA is licensed in Samoa and the UAE to provide incorporation services to clients and referral partners.

"The high quality of the team, the interesting gateway jurisdictions of Mauritius and UAE which are important investment hubs for Africa and India, and the synergy of offering OCRA clients more services and Asian locations for expanding their business were the strategic logic for Acclime's interest in acquiring OCRA," said Martin Crawford, CEO and Co-Founder of Acclime. "We look forward to introducing OCRA’s corporate clients to our regional experts in China, Hong Kong, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam," he added.

The sale of the business was managed by the corporate advisory team of Mazars in London (Paul Joyce & Fred Dearden), acting for the ultimate shareholder of OCRA, and was opened for bids. "Acclime was chosen as the preferred bidder as the team recognised the cultural similarities, with high quality, personalised services at the core," said Bart Dekker, OCRA’s Managing Director, Asia Pacific. Dharmesh Naik, OCRA's Managing Director, Middle East and Indian Ocean, added, "We are excited and delighted to become an integral part of a large international team with the established resources across Acclime's network, and to execute the transaction in line with OCRA's long term succession plan in the interest of all of our stakeholders."

OCRA will operate as an independent business unit within Acclime, supported by funding, IT and marketing initiatives that will grow the business further. Bart Dekker and Dharmesh Naik will remain running the business post-acquisition.

The transaction is subjected to regulatory approvals in several locations and Acclime is expected to complete the acquisition by the end of 2022.

About OCRA
Established in 1975, OCRA is one of the industry pioneers in the corporate services sector with a full suite of corporate services from company formation, company secretarial support, accounting and HR services. For over 40 years, OCRA has been providing personalised services to its clients, most of whom are private investors or companies investing abroad.

About Acclime
Acclime, the premier corporate services provider in Asia, helps corporate and private clients to advance their businesses and interests in difficult-to-navigate markets in emerging Asia. The company’s vision is to reinvent the corporate services sector with innovative solutions that are seamlessly delivered to the highest global standards.

Enquiries: enquiries@ocra.com