Today, organizations can now select from several international and local banks to open a corporate bank account in Hong Kong. It is essential to have a corporate bank account that is up and running in order to operate your Hong Kong company properly. Many products and services have been tailored to address these issues by every significant bank in Hong Kong, both local and international. You need to know those things required by your bank before opening an account so that whatever the bank offers can go with your needs.
Have you had a go at opening a corporate bank account in Hong Kong and had been dismissed with no clarification from the bank? The global banking system has been compelled to rebuild its activity and strategies. Compliance is characterized as the capacity to act by following some guidelines. By not complying with these guidelines, the reputation of the bank is affected.
You must come prepared with the following in mind, a non-exhaustive list, and be ready to wait for some days to get approval if you want to open a bank account without having issues. And be prepared for the banks to come back with more questions and clarifications, as a direct result of anti-money laundering and counter-financing terrorism (AML/CFT) during the process of opening a new bank account for the client.
Below, we list the primary reasons why people find it hard to open bank accounts in Hong Kong:
COMPLIANCE REASONS
Banks work under a lot of standards and rules that are commanded by regulators. What is more, banks ought to be severely penalized under various sanctions if they do not conform to these rules. Subsequently, it has made them excessively protective of their financial services, which causes that the procedures involved in opening a new bank account gets more complicated and difficult and takes more time.
BUSINESS REASONS
Banks are commercial organizations motivated by financial benefit. They hope to guarantee that the organizations are beneficial before contributing their time and assets. A business evaluation will be applied based on the interests that can be earned from the organizations. Along these lines, an organization’s profile is an important criterion that can influence the bank’s points of view.
PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES
By and large, banks will demand that each organizational head come to Hong Kong or meet them face to face for the procedures involved in opening a bank account. It makes things even more difficult, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19. Then again, the application surveying can be taken half a month or every month to process the stringent assessment. What’s more, the bank evaluation plan will differ by organizations, making the selection of candidates obscure. The whole process can move faster if the banks get advice from a service provider that is well-vast in this area and prepare adequately before an interview.
Most of the world’s important banks have branches in Hong Kong. Before you get involved in the opening of a corporate bank account, it is critical to consider these factors:
- The reputation of the bank
- Services and facilities offered by the bank
- Future support services like loans or trade financing
- Minimum requirement deposit
- Internet banking facilities offered and
- Monthly charges (if any)
Despite the difficulties, most international companies appreciate the advantages of establishing a company in Hong Kong and the using of Hong Kong’s banking system to facilitate their international transactions. These advantages include:
- No restriction on foreign exchange remittance or free transfer of funds;
- Convenience in settlement of international trades;
- No interest in tax with higher revenues of deposits;
- Free conversion of currencies;
- Convenience in daily account operation and online bank transactions; and
- The ease involved in getting trade financing from international banks.
As one of the world’s largest financial centers, Hong Kong is the perfect spot for making ventures and opening bank account for investors. Be that as it may, banks have various prerequisites on the procedures and information needed to open a bank account. The organization’s executive may need to invest extra energy in making inquiries to the bank for this, as he may neglect to produce the necessary information, which might lead to a lot of wasted time.
CW has been working closely with a couple of international banks trying to provide solutions to foreign companies with imminent needs to operate in Hong Kong. In the past few months, our Company Secretarial Team has helped several clients open the corporate bank account without the directors’ presence. We can help you navigate through the process of applying for a corporate bank account with our expertise in dealing with the increasingly stringent customer due diligence requirements mandated by the banks.
If you are interested in opening a corporate bank account in Hong Kong, please download CW service brochure (https://www.cwhkcpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CW-Service-HK-Company-Corporate-Bank-Account-Opening.pdf) and contact Ms. May Ly (may.ly@cwhkcpa.com).
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