Limited company account outside the UK

[Pawel Golab]

I live in Poland and I'm going to register a limited company in the UK. I know that a bank account is necessary for my company, but does it have to be an account in one of the UK banks?

Can I open just one account but outside the UK, for example in Polish bank?
Is there any legal obstacle for that?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

No a problem. HSBC are good for non uk resident bank accounts

 

[Pawel Golab]

That's good to know, but I thought about bank operating only in Poland. If I don't have to, I don't want to go to the UK just to open a bank account.
I prefer to have an account only in Polish bank. Is that possible?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Are HSBC not in Poland?

You'll have to translate this for us:

http://www.hsbc.pl/1/2/pol/pl/home

 

[Pawel Golab]

Yes, HSBC is in Poland, but it focus on corporate banking. They working with companies with yearly turnover more than 5 millions Euros...

My question is more general. Can I have one and only bank account for my limited company outside the UK?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

To clarify - HSBC do open accounts for businesses of all sizes and give at least 6 months free banking.

As regards your question - a limited company can have a bank account anywhere. To my knowledge there is no restriction on country.

Bear in mind that your accounts will need to be filed in GBP

 

[Pawel Golab]

To my knowledge there's no such thing in the Polish branch of HSBC.

Thanks, this is the answer I wanted to hear

 

[TODonnell]

I think the reason you may want to have a UK bank account is so that people in the UK can pay you by cheque and BACS transfers without incurring fees.

i.e. A UK person or company can't/won't make a payment in Zlotys to a Polish bank, without incurring transaction charges.

You could use a third-party service like PayPal or Google Checkout or take credit-card or debit card payments, directly, if you have a merchant account, I guess(?)

BUT: You don't legally have to have a UK account for a UK company. It's not a law.

 

[Pawel Golab]

I'm using PayPal and Skrill (Moneybookers) to receive payments from UK customers. Certainly UK account would be convenient for some customers and also less expensive for me (no commission for receiving payments). However at this moment opening such account is very inconvenient for me, so I will choose an account in Polish bank.

 

[Talay]

The question might be whether a non resident non domiciled individual can register a UK company and act as a director without a UK residential address ?

The last time I opened UK company bank accounts they wanted personal residential identification from the directors which a non resident would not have.

One way would be to open an account with a Polish bank who has a UK presence and thus UK sort codes and bank account formats capable of accepting online payments.

 

[katatvg2]

The question might be whether a non resident non domiciled individual can register a UK company and act as a director without a UK residential address ?

The last time I opened UK company bank accounts they wanted personal residential identification from the directors which a non resident would not have.

One way would be to open an account with a Polish bank who has a UK presence and thus UK sort codes and bank account formats capable of accepting online payments.

There is no problem for the address of a director to be outside of the UK. The Ltd Co. must have a registered UK office but, if you set it up online then you can pay an annual fee to the online company to use one of a selection of UK addresses.

I set up my UK Ltd Co. through CompaniesMadeSimple. They also offer bank account opening (with a cash incentive), so you could take a look at that too. There are other similar websites that offer the same sort of services.

 

[Talay]

There is no problem for the address of a director to be outside of the UK. The Ltd Co. must have a registered UK office but, if you set it up online then you can pay an annual fee to the online company to use one of a selection of UK addresses.

I set up my UK Ltd Co. through CompaniesMadeSimple. They also offer bank account opening (with a cash incentive), so you could take a look at that too. There are other similar websites that offer the same sort of services.

But CMS would need a UK address to forward post and to get that, the client has to show both proof of identity and residence at the address they are sending the letters to. A national overseas would fail that requirement.

Though I have not needed to do so, how do you sidestep the National Insurance number requirement at director selection in the online formation form.

Also, as some statutory forms go direct to directors, I am not sure they would routinely be sent overseas would they ? Just not sure that a company can be set up with no UK director address.

 

[Pawel Golab]

As far as I know, there is no any restriction on the director's residential address.

When you register a limited company, you must provide 3 addresses:
- registered address (must be a UK address)
- director's service address
- director's residential address

You can use such services like registeredaddress.co.uk. For a low price you can have registered address and director's service address in a UK. They forward any official letters to any other country.

Of course when you are opening a company bank account, they want personal residential identification. However it doesn't have to be a UK address. You just have to prove that it's your residential address and I think it doesn't really matter where it is.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Talay]

As far as I know, there is no any restriction on the director's residential address.

When you register a limited company, you must provide 3 addresses:
- registered address (must be a UK address)
- director's service address
- director's residential address

You can use such services like registeredaddress.co.uk. For a low price you can have registered address and director's service address in a UK. They forward any official letters to any other country.

Of course when you are opening a company bank account, they want personal residential identification. However it doesn't have to be a UK address. You just have to prove that it's your residential address and I think it doesn't really matter where it is.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Obviously some companies providing mail forwarding have more stringent checks in place than others.

Your suggestion above doesn't cover the director's residential address though you may be able to pay for one of those as well ?

As for post, you can get post to email where they scan your post for you but if overseas, you'd be paying quite a bit for overseas mail redirection.

I think banks want to see documents from a UK address. I doubt I could use my overseas address documents to open a UK account. If you look at Nationwide for example http://www.nationwide.co.uk/pdf/current_account/P112_Flex_Guide.pdf they will allow your non UK passport but they want proof of a UK address. They then check that you live there with Experian.

 

[Pawel Golab]

Your suggestion above doesn't cover the director's residential address though you may be able to pay for one of those as well ?

No, you can't do it. It must be your real address.

I think banks want to see documents from a UK address. I doubt I could use my overseas address documents to open a UK account. If you look at Nationwide for example they will allow your non UK passport but they want proof of a UK address. They then check that you live there with Experian.

I think it's a rule, but for a personal accounts, not for business.

 

[TODonnell]

- Your Director's Service Address can be outside the UK. So can the Director's Residential Address. We can offer you a Director's Service Address.

The only address in a UK company formation that has to be in the UK is the Registered Office.

I would guess that's because it wouldn't be a UK company if the Registered Office was outside the UK, e.g. France! It's a matter of legal jurisdiction.

- We forward mail to foreign addresses at very reasonable prices.
http://www.registeredaddress.co.uk/registrationoptions.php

- A company or a person can get a bank account anywhere in the work if they satisfy the bank's acceptance criteria e.g. offshore bank accounts.

Banks have to do due diligence. They want to make money from you. They don't want trouble. If you pass their credit-scoring criteria, you're in.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

The question might be whether a non resident non domiciled individual can register a UK company and act as a director without a UK residential address ?

.

Yes they can

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

But CMS would need a UK address to forward post and to get that, the client has to show both proof of identity and residence at the address they are sending the letters to. A national overseas would fail that requirement.

Though I have not needed to do so, how do you sidestep the National Insurance number requirement at director selection in the online formation form.

Also, as some statutory forms go direct to directors, I am not sure they would routinely be sent overseas would they ? Just not sure that a company can be set up with no UK director address.

As far as I know, there is no any restriction on the director's residential address.

When you register a limited company, you must provide 3 addresses:
- registered address (must be a UK address)
- director's service address
- director's residential address

You can use such services like registeredaddress.co.uk. For a low price you can have registered address and director's service address in a UK. They forward any official letters to any other country.

Of course when you are opening a company bank account, they want personal residential identification. However it doesn't have to be a UK address. You just have to prove that it's your residential address and I think it doesn't really matter where it is.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Obviously some companies providing mail forwarding have more stringent checks in place than others.

Your suggestion above doesn't cover the director's residential address though you may be able to pay for one of those as well ?

As for post, you can get post to email where they scan your post for you but if overseas, you'd be paying quite a bit for overseas mail redirection.

I think banks want to see documents from a UK address. I doubt I could use my overseas address documents to open a UK account. If you look at Nationwide for example http://www.nationwide.co.uk/pdf/current_account/P112_Flex_Guide.pdf they will allow your non UK passport but they want proof of a UK address. They then check that you live there with Experian.

It is perfectly possible to have a non resident director of a limited company.

HSBC plus others allow for this with eg proof of address at a local branch being the branch closes to the overseas director.

It has never been a problem for any of our many overseas clients.

The UK address is the UK registered office.

I do think comparing a personal account to a limited co account can cause unnecessary confusion