Have you been unable to open a foreign bank account for yourself or your company? We can help.
Internationalwealth.info is the leading portal of the offshore industry, powered by Offshore Pro Group. It is both a reliable source of information and your strategic partner in planning and implementing your offshore business endeavours. This includes choosing and setting up your offshore personal or corporate foreign bank accounts that will suit your specific needs.
Save yourself time, headache and hassle when opening a foreign bank account for you or your company by using our services. How do you open a Personal or Corporate Offshore Bank Account?
- Let us know your bank account opening needs using a simple online form that takes a few minutes to complete.
- An expert with extensive Legal and Compliance experience will review your case in detail.
- We will get back to you by email or phone, as you prefer, with concrete, actionable advice.
How much does it cost? Our fees depend on the complexity of the situation. The initial review and consultation is absolutely free of charge. There is no obligation, no need to send any documents, and it is totally confidential.
If we can’t help you, we will inform you promptly without wasting your time. But in the vast majority of cases, even the most difficult ones, there is a solution.
Note: we cannot open personal or corporate accounts associated with countries or entities that are subject to United Nations sanctions.
Here are some of the situations where we can help
- Accounts closed or rejected by other banks
- Citizens or residents of high risk or multiple jurisdictions
- Bank accounts for offshore trusts, companies, foundations etc
- Non-residents of USA or EU seeking accounts in those jurisdictions
- Crypto investors and traders
- Politically exposed, government contractors etc
- Offshore e-commerce businesses
- Import/Export
- IT services
- Gaming
- Multiple Currency accounts
Etc…. etc…
We specialize in complex offshore structures
Most of our clients have sophisticated requirements needing complex banking solutions. Very often this involves building combinations of offshore – mid-shore – and onshore companies and opening several bank accounts in different countries. Those who seek to protect their hard-earned assets by offshore diversification and protection sometimes become legal residents of several countries at a time. Of course, these people need to set up accounts with more than one bank.
Banks all over the world are becoming very picky when opening accounts for non-resident clients. Foreign banks prefer only non-resident clients who have perfectly transparent business structures and reputation. This often results in discrimination against start-up businesses or those with complex ownership structures. It’s usually not for ideological reasons, but simply because banks themselves are under huge pressure from a compliance point of view.
We co-operate with more than 200 banks and we know what questions they will ask
Whether you are planning to set up a bank account on an idyllic island or in a traditional financial centre like New York or London, you will encounter numerous roadblocks. We cooperate with more than 200 banks and payment systems all around the world. These banking partnerships are very dynamic and constantly changing as banks change policies, private bankers change jobs, etc.
We know exactly what questions we need to ask you when helping you open a foreign bank account via the Internet. If we understand in depth your needs and desires, concerns and opportunities, we can choose the bank or the payment system that will not only open your account, but is going to serve your purposes best of all.
Normal Commercial Logic does not apply when Opening Foreign Bank Accounts.
In an ideal world that is governed by reason, the YOU THE CLIENT would choose the bank you wish to trust with your hard-earned money. Unfortunately when it comes to banking abroad, normal commercial logic is turned upside-down. It is the foreign BANK that decides if it will or will not serve a non-resident client. Foreign Banks do not want to put their licences, reputation, accounts and client bases at risk by letting in a customer that could cause problems. Bank Presidents and senior Compliance Department officers may even go to jail if they knowingly take a potentially unsafe client onboard.
We stay in close contact with all the financial institutions that we work with, to maximize the efficiency of our services. The process of opening a foreign bank account is sophisticated and time-consuming, requiring professional expertise and experience. As the banks experience high pressure on the part of various regulatory bodies, any inaccuracy or obscurity found in the application documents submitted by a non-resident applicant will automatically trigger rejection.
All foreign banks have lists of criteria that any prospective non-resident client must comply with. Offshore Pro Group experts will help you find out where you can set up a personal, private corporate, investment, brokerage, or merchant bank accounts by examining your chances for compliance and success.
Free Consultation on Opening a Foreign Bank Account
We invite you to book a FREE professional web-based consultation with our trusted experts. You can contact us via e-mail, live chat, or WhatsApp. However, to get the most out of the service, we highly recommend you complete the questionnaire in advance. Yes, we know nobody likes filling out forms – but based on years of experience we can say that completing this form is a quick way for us to gain an understanding of your foreign bank account opening needs. It will be viewed by an expert who is working for YOU. It will not be shared with banks, compliance departments or anyone else.
The questionnaire contains detailed questions that are relevant to the international banking standards and requirements. On the basis of your answers to these questions, we will prepare to discuss with you the most suitable financial institutions that will fit your purposes and that will be likely to approve your application.
Preparatory Work Required to Open a Foreign Bank Account
Although we will do most of the heavy lifting, if you want to open a personal account or a corporate account in a foreign bank, please be prepared for the fact that it will not be easy.
Before your account is activated, you will need to work through 4 steps:
- Choose the bank(s) that will meet your principal requirements. Our friendly consultants will walk you through this process. The list of factors to consider includes the source of funds, the amount you will be depositing, the documents you have available, your type of business that you have and are planning to develop, and many other important nuances. Having worked through the possible options, you will make the final well-grounded choice of one or more shortlisted banks.
- Obtain a pre-approval from the banks of your choice. Normally, there will be more than one bank that suits you. We will submit your file for a pre-approval to all of them on your behalf. This will narrow down your focus. Our consultant will guide and assist you in compiling the application portfolio for submission to the bank that has pre-approved you as a client.
- Prepare the application documents that are required by the bank or financial institution where you are going to open the foreign bank account(s). This is the most demanding and time-consuming stage. Much will depend on how quickly you can supply all the necessary documents to us. We will carefully analyse the application documents that will include both personal documents and your company’s documents if you are opening a corporate account. If your company is (partially) owned by another legal entity, you will need to supply this entity’s corporate documents as well, plus the personal documents of its UBOs and directors. We will pre-check the application documents exactly in the way that they will be inspected by the bank Compliance Department officers. Different factors need to be taken into account such as the dates of issuance, the signatures, the legibility, the certification of copies etc.
- Complete the bank forms and send the application document package to the bank. Most banks these days will pre-fill the forms and contracts you need to sign, but bankers also frequently work under pressure and make errors. Our work as consultants includes double-checking all the data before presenting it to you for signature. If the information supplied is inconsistent, that can be another reason for the foreign bank account compliance department to reject the application, whether it is for a personal account or a corporate account. Sometimes even details like the print quality or the and colour can make a difference, or sometimes the signature on the document is not accepted by the bank as matching that on your passport. We always meticulously check the scanned copies of the documents that the clients send to us. In this way, we save the client’s time and money because if you submit the wrong documents to the bank, you will have to resend them, thus wasting time and money. Most banks will not start the formal process to open a personal account (or a corporate foreign bank account) until all the required documents are sent. If some of your personal or corporate documents are to be sent from a different place, it is important to make sure that all the application documents arrive at the bank simultaneously. We will coordinate the logistics, making sure that the bank receives all the required documents. We will keep in touch, following up with the bank if necessary and providing you with status updates. Our work is only completed when your foreign bank account is set up, activated and working to your satisfaction.
The above process covers only a few issues of all that need to be taken into consideration when you are preparing the application documents to open a foreign bank account. Opening a foreign bank account can be a big challenge today. But with our assistance, you will be able to set up a bank account abroad and keep it active in the future.
You can rely on our experts’ 20-year professional legal, financial, business experience, our network of local associate partners, the accumulated knowledge base, and feedback from our clients. We will guide you and hold your hand step-by-step through the whole process of opening a foreign bank account. Some of our services are unique, and our fees are competitive.
Please remember, however, that the ultimate decision to open (or not to open) an account for you rests with the bank.
Now, please fill out the online booking form given below. Your answers and extra notes will help us to help you. The more detail you can provide, the better the result – a fact or detail you almost forgot about might help our experts to come up with a unique or unusual solution.
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What type of foreign/offshore bank account should you open?
We are sorry to answer this question with a question… but there will be some fundamental questions that we need to ask you as part of our process for finding the most suitable foreign bank account for you.
First of all, do you need a personal bank account, a corporate bank account, or both? Setting up both a personal and a corporate account with the same bank would be a very intelligent thing to do. The bank will be comfortable with this. It will also enable you to receive director fees, share dividends etc into your personal account via a direct internal transfer. In most banks this is free and instant. Later, if you need to wire money out to your personal account at another bank, your name will be shown as the sender. This will simplify the transaction because you won’t need to explain your relationship with the company.
Besides, a PERSONAL foreign bank account can be opened online and it can be used to keep and grow your personal capital, to pay bills, and so on. You can also use it to make private investments into business projects online.
What if you don’t really need a Foreign Bank Account?
Sometimes a client applying for our services does not really need a foreign bank account. Like any business, we are here to sell our services. But if we see that a client doesn’t need the service, we will always tell the client this, because we believe in long term business relationships. We are not here to simply sell you a service then disappear. Offshore Pro Group was established in 2008 and has a long track record and an excellent online reputation, that we seek to preserve. Instead, we can always help with finding a more beneficial and simple solution. For example, an offshore trust or company can sometimes be a better solution than to open a personal bank account.
Initial Deposit Required when you Open a Foreign Bank Account
Remember that a bank is a business too. Banks typically have to pay high salaries to smart people, otherwise they would go bankrupt.. Therefore there is a cost involved in opening a personal account at a private bank, or indeed any kind of foreign bank account. You cannot expect it to cost the same as an account at a domesti bank where the staff only need to deal with low risk, domestic clients. But, if you pay all the fees and dues on time, observing the bank’s policies, your foreign bank account (and better still, two or three foreign bank accounts) will serve the purpose of secure asset protection.
An account in a foreign bank can also make you start thinking about optimizing your asset protection by acquiring a new residency or citizenship. We will be glad to assist you with this matter too.
How to Open a Corporate Account at a Foreign Bank
A CORPORATE foreign bank account is key to the successful operation of your international business. When you open a corporate bank account abroad, there are numerous details that you have to take care of. Sometimes these details can seem overwhelming, but don’t worry as Offshore Pro Group is here to assist.
One of these details is, for example, the necessity to understand and comply with all the relevant regulations on offshore or non-resident businesses and foreign bank accounts in the bank’s home country. If you fail to comply with the requirement to pay the annual company renewal fee, for instance, your corporate account might be frozen until you submit a fresh Certificate of Good Standing to the bank. Please note that since 2017, banks have been asking clients to supply the financial statements for prior periods. Having audited accounts, even if you are not legally obliged to do so, will improve the image of your company in the eyes of the bank and therefore increase your chances for mutually-beneficial cooperation with the bank of your choice.
Bottom line? People often open corporate bank accounts in foreign countries to do business, protect assets, make investments, for many other reasons. A corporate bank account abroad can bring multiple benefits.
Keeping your Foreign Bank Account in Good Standing
If you would like to set up a corporate account in an offshore bank for the sake of asset protection or simply as a nest-egg for a rainy day, that’s fine.
If you are looking for a chance to optimize your asset protection in a legal way, you can consider both traditional offshore jurisdictions like Caribbean or Marshall Islands, and mid-shore jurisdictions like Dubai, Andorra or Serbia. You should weigh all the pros and cons of each jurisdiction before you register the company and open a business bank account in the most suitable place. This is why we recommend that you take us up on our offer of a FREE consultation on this matter to us before you begin further steps.
You are free to let your creativity run wild in creating multi-jurisdictional combos: for example, an offshore company with an onshore bank… or a mid-shore company with an offshore bank. In any case, all banks have standard and bank-specific requirements for their prospective clients. You should expect to supply the most detailed information about your business activities when you intend to set up a corporate account in a foreign bank. Any bank will want to know from day one who your main business partners are and what the expected account turnover will be.
The initially declared types of business activity will be monitored and the bank will want to know the rationale behind every payment that you make. Even a small deviation from the initially declared intentions may lead to your foreign bank account being abruptly closed if you fail to notify the bank about an out-of-the-ordinary payment in advance. It’s essential that you are ready to supply confirmation documents such as agreements, invoices, etc as soon as your banker or account officer requests them.
Of course, the same is also true for a personal bank account abroad. For example, when you deposit money in your foreign bank account, the bank may request a confirmation of the legality of your sources of income. This could be something like a pay stub, a property sale agreement, recent audited accounts of your business, or a loan agreement. It would be wise to keep all the documents that confirm your cash flows as these can help you a lot in case the bank asks months or years later how you make and how you spend money. In this day and age, and for the sake of saving a few thousand dollars, there is no reason not to have accurate accounting records and adequate supporting documents. Banks do not want to deal with people who don’t run their businesses on a very serious basis.
Should you open an account remotely or on a personal visit?
Offshore Pro Group cooperates with a large number of banks that allow our clients to set up an account remotely, without paying a personal visit to the bank. However, as the bank managers are not going to have the pleasure of meeting you in person, they will have to rely on your application documents and a video conference alone to deliberate whether to open an account for you or not. For this reason, the process willbe more exhaustive and they and may require more documents from you.
How long does it take to open a foreign bank account?
The majority of our clients would like to set up a bank account in a foreign country within a couple of days. Some of them want the account opened yesterday. Experience shows, however, that achieving this goal is going to take at least seven to ten days. In some more complex cases, it can take months. There are several reasons for that.
First, you need to collect the required application documents, and send them to us. We will inspect them carefully and send them to the bank as soon as we ascertain that all the documents are in good order. We work fast, but remember we are humans providing personal service, not machines. We also have other clients to deal with, and we have learned by experience never to submit poorly compiled application document packages to the banks. Any small error can cause a long delay, so it’s better to check andrecheck, and avoid rushing.
Second, every bank will need some time for due diligence checks. The periods can vary from one bank to another, or even between branches of the same foreign bank. Sometimes it will take only a few days while at other times you may have to wait for a few weeks. This largely depends upon the workload that the bank Compliance Department has at the time of your application.
Third, the account opening period will also depend on how complete your application document package is. If you are applying for a corporate bank account, the information about the company and its prospective financial operations simply must be complete and consistent.
Fourth, some banks require that you make the initial deposit before they even start assessing your application documents. All banks have their internal requirements as to the amount of the initial deposit and the kind of transaction that you can make. Sometimes the transaction has to be made from a SEPA zone bank, for example, or a SWIFT payment may be required, and so on. We will certainly give you timely information about all the details related to making the initial deposit with the bank of your choice when you apply for our corporate account or personal account services in relation to assistance with setting up a foreign bank account.
Finally, remember different banks set different requirements as to the submission of documents. In most cases, banks these days process remote account opening over the internet. Some banks, however, still require hard copy documents sent by courier.
Now that you understand that opening an offshore bank account takes time and is quite challenging, don’t delay any longer your request for our services! Please write to info@offshore-pro.info and let us start straight away!
