Basic and minimum requirements are those requested by very common offshore banks between entities to open both personal and corporate bank accounts. However, you will need to undergo as an account holder a number of procedures universally accepted today by almost all jurisdictions to know the client and the provenance of the funds.

The first document needed to open an offshore bank account is a notarized and apostilled copy of the passport.

In addition, offshore banks usually require, always, such a copy with its proper translation into English, proof of payment of services (electricity, Internet, water), in the name of the applicant, the known statements or bank movements or payrolls, also in the name of the applicant and bank references that guarantee that the applicant has a good background, in the case of personal accounts.

For corporate offshore bank accounts, documents of the company and its business plan are requested, duly translated and apostilled.

Some offshore jurisdictions require the physical presence of the holder or applicant to register a bank account, with technological innovation it is already accepted to open an account via the internet and remotely. However, it will not be able to evade the protocols and questionnaires through which banks manage the different risks, known by their acronyms in English as KYC and AML.

Offshore banks and the bank compliance procedure

KYC stands for Know Your Customer, in which the bank requires a thorough understanding of the customer and AML stands for Money Laundering Prevention, in which the bank applies its policies to prevent money laundering.  Banks around the world use AML policy compliance agreements.

The KYC policy is a regulatory process in which banking organizations must know the identity of customers. From the data they obtain, they must be able to value their credentials. At the end of the process, each client is assigned a certain degree of risk. With KYC, foreign banks can better frame their customers' business characteristics and financial transactions.

The customer who has completed the KYC and AML processes, as well as the Due Diligence, will be able to fully use the banking services without any risk of interruptions that may result in economic damage to their capital, their assets and their business.

The purpose of these tools is to prevent criminals from accessing banking services or to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. This data collection work will reduce the risk of banking services to criminal activities.

It is duty to apply the rules and policies of fight against money laundering, by the bank, if the opposite happens you can be fined or your banking license can be revoked. Hence the importance of respecting compliance requirements that mean absolute control and legality of banking transactions.

Please note that the compliance assessment for opening an account at an offshore bank cannot be guaranteed to be successful and fast, it will all depend on the adequate, timely and verifiable information you provide.

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