Passing the bank review

A bank or payment institution opens an account for a foreign company only after its own review of the company (KYB) and its owners. Registration and account opening are independent; the bank weighs owners, industry, payment countries, turnover and documents together. The questions trace back to FATF Recommendation 10: identify the customer and beneficial owner, understand the purpose of the relationship, then monitor transactions.

Seven steps

1. Name the transactions you need. Receiving international transfers, holding balances, accepting cards (including subscriptions) and paying many contractors abroad are four different needs. Banks, EMIs, PSPs and merchants of record cover different parts. Describe one real payment: a client in Germany pays EUR 8,000, part goes to a contractor in Poland and part to a US supplier. Which documents go with each transfer, where is currency converted, who signs?

2. Check country and industry acceptance before registering. Three levels: the company's country, the owners' residence and citizenship, the business model. Being able to register in the BVI or Belize says nothing about whether a given EMI will take the company.

3. Show the full ownership chain. Names, shares and control down to individuals, intermediate companies, the basis of directors' authority. Missing recent extracts for shareholders higher up the chain is a frequent cause of delay.

4. Separate source of funds from source of wealth. The first is the origin of the money arriving in the account; the second is how the owner built their wealth. Describe complex deals as they are.

5. Forecast the transactions. Monthly inflows and outflows, average payment, main countries and currencies, top five counterparties. A trader brings purchase contracts and transport documents; an agency brings a website, portfolio, MSA/SOW and invoices; a holding brings shareholding documents and expected dividends. Update the profile before the business changes.

6. Price the payment route. Incoming SWIFT, outgoing transfers, conversion, third-party payments, maintenance, minimum balance, document request fees, crediting times. A trader with a dozen large transfers and a SaaS with thousands of card payments need different sums.

7. Have a plan B. Refusals often come without explanation. Keep a second bank or EMI in view and avoid dozens of parallel applications with different business descriptions.

Package to prepare in advance

Constitutional documents and a registry extract; an ownership chart to individuals; passports and proof of address; signatory resolutions; a website or short product deck; a sample contract and invoice; countries and a payment forecast; evidence for the source of initial funds. Groups add financial statements and an intra-group payment chart. One person answers the bank, and the signatory in the resolution is the person who goes through the review.

Short answers

Source: Bank account for a foreign company · documents list: KYC and KYB for a foreign company · service: bank account for an offshore company