What are the Documents Required to Open a Corporate Bank Account in the UAE?

Why corporate bank account is important in the UAE?

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an important global hub for business, trade, finance etc. Among the seven emirates in the UAE, Dubai is the most attractive place for doing business or for investment in the business or in properties. One of the main attractions in the UAE for business is the absence of the corporate and personal tax. That is why most of the investors are likely to start a business or invest in the UAE. Mainly to form the companies in UAE, there are three types of entities:

• Mainland / Onshore entities
• Free zone entities
• Offshore entities

Once the client completes the procedure to form the company in any entity then the client has to open a corporate business account to conduct the business transactions properly and legally. The region is famous for its banking and finance industry as well. Even though local banks are more in the UAE, they provide privacy, global service, and high security for their customers. Due to these reasons, businessmen are ready to open a personal bank account with local banks. Also, banks in the UAE are not allowed to conduct business transactions through the personal bank account of the individual or businessmen. So, the business entrepreneurs should open the business account under the name of the company. As we already mentioned, we can find both local and international banks in the UAE. Local banks which helps to open the business bank account are mentioned below.

• RAK Bank
• Mashreq Bank
• Emirates NBD
• Emirates Islamic Bank
• Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
• First Abu Dhabi Bank
• Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

International banks which help to open the business bank account in UAE are mentioned below

• Standard Chartered Bank
• HSBC
• Citibank

What are the Documents required to open a corporate bank account in the UAE?

The documents required and the procedures may vary from bank to bank. The signatory or the shareholder should be physically present in the bank for signing the application in order to open the bank account. To open a corporate or company bank account in the UAE, the documents required are mentioned below:

1. Legal documents of the company
2. Passport copy, visa copy, Emirates ID copy of the shareholder
3. Last six months personal bank account statement of the shareholder
4. List of at least five names of the suppliers and five names of the customers
5. Company profile or brochure
6. Resume of the Shareholders
7. Any confirmed contracts
8.  
9. Legal documents of the company

As an initial step to open the bank account under the company’s name, the bank requires some legal documents like license copy, share certificate, details about activity list, lease agreement etc. The concerned person from the bank will verify the documents and make sure that all the legal documents are valid and original.

2. Passport copy, visa copy, Emirates ID copy of the shareholder

Once we provide the legal documents of the company to open the corporate bank account, the shareholder should provide the original passport or emirates id. This is to verify the documents and banker will take the copy and put the original verified stamp. The passport or emirates id should be valid for at least six months.

3. Last six months personal bank account statement of the shareholder

The shareholder must provide at least the last six months personal bank statement of the shareholder. It can be either personal bank account of the shareholder or it can be a  corporate bank account if the shareholders own any other company. The existing bank account can be outside the UAE as well. The bank statement should be attested or stamped by the concerned bank.

4. List of at least five names of the suppliers and five names of the customers

The banker will ask a minimum of five names of the suppliers and customers. So, the shareholder should have the list ready. Bank wants to make sure that money or fund is not coming from any restricted countries and to check the model of a business transaction. The shareholder must clearly explain how the business model will work and how the payments will be coming from the customers. So, it will be easy for the banker to understand the business to explain every detail to the compliance department.

5. Company profile or brochure

The shareholder must provide a detail company profile or brochure. This is to identify the company’s activity, products they deal with, which country they deal etc. If the company have a detailed company profile, then the compliance department can easily understand the business model.

6. Resume of the Shareholders

The shareholder has to provide a resume about himself. This is to understand his experience in doing the business or experience in that business sector. The shareholder should mention clear details about his experience in the current business sector. Even the shareholders can share the LinkedIn profile to identify his experience.

7. Any confirmed contracts

If the shareholder has any confirmed contract from the customers, he can share the copy of the contract with the bank. This is to make sure that he has already started doing business and the payment will come from the concerned client on a specific date from a specific country. Once the bank account is opened most of the below-mentioned facilities can be enjoyed by the shareholder

• Multi-Currency Account
• Online banking
• Debit card and cheque book facility

Once the company completes more than one year of tenure, most of the banks will provide facilities like business loan, trade facilities, overdraft facilities etc.

For Corporate Bank Account in the UAE

Mr. Ragesh Mattummal, Partner
+971 50 3578031