01 / PRACTICAL PRODUCT DETAILS
Bank Account for a UK Ltd Company with a European Bank
For an account, what matters is not only the country of company registration but where the actual payments take place. If a UK Ltd sells in Poland and receives PLN, a Polish bank is convenient; for CZK payments, a Czech bank. Bank Pekao expressly serves the opening of corporate accounts for residents and non-residents, while Komerční banka offers companies accounts in CZK and foreign currencies including EUR, USD, GBP, CHF and PLN.
Did secret offshore companies in England always exist? In general — yes, this was possible. For example, if offshore companies in Panama have existed for almost 100 years since 1927, nothing prevented two Panamanian offshore companies from opening a company in England earlier, for example in the City of London, as an LP or LLP partnership, and obtaining a 100% British offshore structure as the result. Especially in those good old days when there was no internet, no public registers and everything was kept on paper. It simply attracted little attention and isolated cases, so to speak, went unnoticed. Now everything has changed. But offshore structures remain. Banks, however, require more work: accounts are no longer opened for clients from the street, or walking clients, as one says in English. The bank must be persuaded that the business intentions are proper and that there is no intention to optimise taxes. But the essence remains the same.
In the same way, an English company can consider banks in Asia. In Singapore, OCBC offers a Business Foreign Account for companies registered outside Singapore, while DBS separately states that a foreign incorporated company can open a business account with a Relationship Manager. In Hong Kong, Standard Chartered publishes a separate account-opening checklist for companies incorporated in other countries and regions.
In practice, a local account is particularly convenient when the director lives in that country, the company receives local currency or works with local buyers and suppliers. One UK Ltd can have a primary and a second account: for example GBP in the United Kingdom, EUR in the EU, PLN in Poland, CZK in the Czech Republic, CHF in Switzerland, SGD in Singapore or HKD in Hong Kong.
Tell us the countries of buyers and suppliers, the currencies and where the director lives. We will offer several traditional banks according to the company’s actual payments.