Banking facilities for company with non-UK-resident director

[wolfgang]

I'm about to form a UK limited company, but have been told by a couple of banks that a non-UK-resident cannot open a business bank account.

Since the company will be limited, I imagined that the bank account would be opened in the name of the company rather than the director.

Does anyone else have experience of this problem?

Any information gratefully received.

Steve

[Darren@1stAccountancy.biz]

This is a problem we've faced with a number of our German clients. The bank run credit checks on the directors and major shareholders of a limited company. If they are non-UK residents, this poses a big problem. Some more sympathetic banks will open an account but they must still carry out the credit checks....this would then be done in the old fashioned way of writing to your bank in your country or residence.

The way we have done this for our clients is to place one of our nominee companies as the director & shareholder of the new company. As our nominee companies have UK nationals as directors, this is not a problem. Once the account has been set up, we then resign as director, hand over the shares then hand everything over to the client.

It is a bit more involved than it used to be thanks to the anti-fraud regulations!

[gj]

My experience is that the company can open the account, it is just that the non resident director/shareholder needs identifying either when visiting the UK (with passport and proof of current address) or in their own country of residence, with letter from UK bank to their bank.

Yes it is a bit more complicated and time consuming but not impossible.

By the way, where nominee companies are used to initially open the bank account, then they resign and the "true" director takes over, my understanding is that the bank's money laundering regulations would require identification of the "true" director at that stage (if not before if it where obvious that the first director and shareholder where nominees)

Graham