Opening a UK bank account for a foreign-owned company

A company can be incorporated without a bank account, and can register for every tax without one. It cannot pay staff, collect invoices or hold its share capital without one. For a subsidiary whose directors and owners are abroad, the UK high-street banks are slow and sometimes decline outright, because their onboarding checks are built around a UK-resident owner they can meet. Plan for the account to take longer than the incorporation, and plan a second route so the business is not waiting.

What banks ask a foreign-owned company for

• A group structure chart from the ultimate owners down to the new company, with percentages.
• Certified identity and address evidence for every director and every individual with more than 25% of the group.
• Evidence of where the money funding the company comes from: the parent's accounts, a bank statement, an investor agreement.
• A description of the UK business, its customers, its suppliers and the expected monthly volumes in and out, with a forecast.
• Often, a UK-resident director or authorised signatory. Some banks make this a requirement, others a strong preference.

We assemble all of this into one pack, in the order each provider's form asks for it, and we answer the follow-up questions with you. Most declines happen because an answer was missing or inconsistent with the Companies House record.

The providers that work for overseas-owned companies

Several regulated UK payment and banking providers will open a sterling account for a UK company with foreign directors, usually within days, with full UK sort code and account number, direct debits for HMRC and payroll, and accounts in dollars, euros and rupees alongside sterling. For many subsidiaries this is the main account for the first year and sometimes permanently. A traditional bank account can be added when there is UK trading history to show. We introduce the providers that fit the group and the countries it operates in, and prepare their application.

Timing

A payment-provider account: typically a few days to two weeks after the pack is complete. A high-street bank: typically four to twelve weeks, sometimes longer where the ownership chain is complex. We start the applications the day the company is incorporated, and we set the accounting software up to receive bank feeds from whichever account opens first.