Opening an Account Abroad for a Legal Entity in 2022: Everything You Need to Know

A foreign business account is the foundation of your business relationships abroad. Before choosing a foreign bank, it is important to decide, what functionality your business account should have, if your company depends heavily on the speed of transaction processing, and how often you will deal with cash in the course of your business. Only knowing the specific needs will allow you to select and open an account abroad that will create the best conditions for the development of your company. 

Entering foreign markets, convenient settlements with counterparties, comfortable interaction with clients abroad are just a few reasons why your legal entity needs an account abroad. 

Opening an account abroad for a legal entity in 2022: in what cases may it be necessary for your company?  

One of the key functions of a business account is the complete separation of your personal assets from the assets of a company, fund, trust. Any entry into a foreign market involves opening an account abroad in the country of economic activity. Following is the list of other situations when a foreign (non-resident) company may need an account abroad:

• the main suppliers and business partners are located abroad; 
• business goes international; 
• the company makes international investments; 
• agreements with partners do not allow working with accounts in certain jurisdictions; 
• it is necessary to protect your financial information from competitors and greedy relatives.   

The procedure for opening an account for a legal entity abroad has become much more complicated in recent years – nowadays, it is quite difficult to get banking services in a country other than your country of residence. Cooperation with foreign banks on behalf of a new company, directors, shareholders and beneficial owners of which are still unknown to the financial organization, becomes a particularly time-consuming and troublesome task. 

What conclusion should we make? In addition to your business needs and business goals, you have to take into consideration bank due diligence rules. Foreign banks are ready to take only reliable clients on board, and completely refuse to serve any suspicious entities. 

In that case, how can one open an account for a legal entity abroad in 2022? How difficult is it to do that? What compliance procedure will you need to go through? How long does it take to open a foreign account? We will answer all your questions in this article. 

The Best Place to Open an Account Abroad for a Legal Entity in 2022

First of all, you need to decide where exactly you want to have an account abroad, and what business tasks it should perform. When entering specific markets, it is better to open accounts in the chosen jurisdiction; if you require international coverage of several countries at the same time, you can direct your efforts to opening accounts for a legal entity in several banks of different states at once. 

In certain situations, it is advisable to open an account for a legal entity in a financial institution that is accustomed to cooperating with companies of a certain profile. If your main activity is, let’s say, investments, it is wiser to apply to banks that open special investment accounts and cooperate with such companies. 

This is another proof that the selection of accounts should be exclusively individual and based on the solution of specific business problems. In addition, our experts will take into account the geographical peculiarities and regulations for interaction with various companies, after which we can talk about the suitable options. You can take advantage of a free consultation from our experts on the selection of foreign accounts for your business.

Right now, we’re ready to do the following: 

• to offer you dozens of options all over the world;
• to recommend both classic banks and fintech companies (neo-banks), as well as payment systems; 
• to choose the ideal solution for specific business tasks; 
• to facilitate the opening of accounts abroad, including remotely; 
• to accompany the opening procedure at all stages – from the preparation of documents to the full connection of the business to the financial services.

Our experience allows us to recommend both financial and credit organizations with deposits of at least 1 million USD, and those that do not require any minimum limit. We work with organizations that require a certain deposit amount or no deposit at all, as well as with various financial institutions around the world that are ready to build long-term business relationships with foreign companies. Moreover, our range of services includes options for opening accounts abroad completely online. 

How long does it take to open an account abroad for a company?

Questions about timing are perhaps among the most frequently asked. We understand that your business needs an account that doesn’t take long to open. HOWEVER, in practice, creating a company can take much less time than starting cooperation with a financial institution. Why does it happen that way? The reason is that the very process of preparing documents is long and painstaking. 

Today, banks work according to the rules of international financial regulators, which require a very thorough check of absolutely all customers. Non-resident business has become a subject of increased risk, so foreign banks often simply refuse to open an account for such clients without trying to understanding the nuances. 

In fact, no one will explain to you, why they refused to open an account abroad for your legal entity – you get the refusal, and that’s it. This means that you go through collecting all the documents, spend money on translation, notarization, try to meet the deadlines for their validity (and those certainly do not allow you to relax), and in the end you receive a refusal without any reasons. Indeed, banks have no obligation to tell you, what specific parts of your application didn’t work for them. 

In any case, due diligence verification of a client takes a long time – some financial institutions can require up to 10 days to consider an application, others do it within a few weeks. 

Another important point that we have already mentioned is the opportunity to open accounts for a legal entity in specialized payment systems. These are fintech companies (like neo-banks) that offer high-quality banking services with a good list of financial instruments. As a rule, the verification procedure here is less stringent, the service is cheaper than in classic banks, and you can open an account and connect your business within 1 to 10 days. 

We recommend that you consider our best offers in business services connected with foreign banks and payment systems:

OUR SERVICES IN OPENING BANK ACCOUNTS FOR A legal entitY

from - 2 999 EUR

Open a Corporate Bank Account and a Personal Bank Account in Switzerland Remotely

from 3999 EUR

Open a Corporate Bank Account in Saint Lucia Remotely

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Your Corporate Account in Liechtenstein with the Bank Alpinum

Opening an account for a legal entity abroad: is the procedure available online? 

Making a personal visit to financial institutions abroad has become much more difficult during the pandemic – people’s mobility is limited, global travel is not a priority, and the mere mention of a visit in person gives you a headache.

In most cases, to open an account abroad for a non-resident business, you actually need to visit a bank – organizations willing to cooperate with foreign clients often ask their clients to come to the country in person.

However, the situation on the financial services market has changed. Unlike just a few years ago, today you have the opportunity to open an account for a legal entity abroad completely remotely. We actively and successfully cooperate with foreign banks, payment systems that are ready to review all the documents of your legal entity online. 

How can one understand, whether their company is eligible to open an account abroad without a personal visit? Our free consultation will allow you to understand, how realistic it is that you will be able to connect your business to an account abroad without having to visit the bank in another country. 

The procedure for opening foreign accounts – if your application has been turned down   

Refusals are not something new. We are approached by many clients who have tried to open an account for a company abroad on their own and have been turned down. The first thing we need to note is that there are a lot of financial and credit institutions around the world, and there will still be options, because the procedures for accepting a new client may differ in different organizations.

Secondly, it is important to understand the very reason for failure – in most cases, these are banal errors and inconsistencies in the document package prepared by the client. Once again, we emphasize that a foreign bank will not make clarifications and go into details – it will simply turn the application down. That is why we recommend getting the support of our experts: we will eliminate the possible errors, typos, inconsistencies that may cause the bank to turn down your application for opening an account for a legal entity abroad.

Small errors in filling out the questionnaire can provoke the bank to refuse to service a legal entity. For example, it is not uncommon for our clients to enter the names of owners instead of shareholders, and vice versa. Moreover, unsuitable ink in the pen used for signing documents can also be the reason for the bank refusing to serve a legal entity abroad.

When you refer to us, you in the first place get help in understanding, why the bank refused to open an account for your business. Depending on the reason, we will review the problem and solve it together with you. In some situations, the refusal may be motivated by the type of activity of your legal entity, which is not core or preferential to the specific financial institution.

Roughly speaking, it is very important to know what, where and how to request. With our experts’ assistance, you will be able to understand the procedures in detail. Initially, we will advise you on those institutions that are ready to work specifically with your company, after which we will submit the application to open an account for your legal entity abroad.

Document package needed to open an account for a legal entity abroad in 2022 

The standard Document package for 2022 includes the following documents: 

• Copies of valid passports of directors and owners of the legal entity. 
• Documentary evidence of residential addresses of the owner and the directors (lease agreement, utility bill, etc.).
• Founding documents of the company.
• Due Diligence Certificate.
• Financial statements of a legal entity. 
• Description of your company’s activities.
• Data of the main counterparties and the concluded contracts. 

Regardless of whether you want to open an account for a legal entity in a bank or a payment system, this list is the same. The financial institution may request additional documents, such as statements from other accounts of your company, a description of the beneficial ownership structure, lists of key customers, trade turnover, etc.

Despite the seeming simplicity of the procedure, there can really be many nuances. Moreover, the procedure for opening an account for a non-resident business involves a mandatory translation and notarization, plus compliance with the stated validity period of specific documents. Our experts carefully and scrupulously study the data entered by the client before sending the package for translation and certification by a notary officer.

If you really value your time, we recommend you to consider the pre-approval service – this way you will receive preliminary approval and the indication of the bank’s readiness to open an account before sending the full package of original documents. Pre-approval allows legal entities to understand whether the bank is ready to open an account abroad based on copies of documents and the company’s business model.  

Apply for our free consultation right now in the way that is most convenient to you.