In today’s modern society, if one were to ask any Malaysian out there, most would claim that they own a personal bank account that can be simply opened at their nearest banking institution. But what about the case of opening a business bank account? What makes it special and unique for corporate bodies? What are its benefits and most importantly, how do you open one?
Stick with us as this article is specially catered towards helping you in doing just that! With that, let’s begin…
Importance & Requirements of Opening a Business Bank Account
Now, you may be asking, “Why do I need a bank account specifically for corporate matters when a personal one could be used instead?” Well… Unlike the latter, opening a business bank account consists of numerous specialized facilities catered towards handling business-related tasks more efficiently.
To start, most business owners intending to establish a business bank account would first need to procure copies of certain vital documents such as, their Company Resolution, displaying the approval of all company directors to start a business bank account (more can be learned about Company Resolutions via clicking the link here: Company Resolutions) along withSSM related forms.
Following, the required due diligence documents in opening a business bank account includes: –
i. Standard account opening forms signed by the authorized signatories
ii. An array of documents CERTIFIED by a company secretary such as: –
a.Section 14 – Superform (Application of Registration)
b.Section 15 – Notice of Registration (Certificate issued by SSM (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia) confirming the stated company’s successful incorporation)
c.Section 17 – Certificate of Incorporation
d. Section 46 – Particulars of Registered Address
e.Section 58 – Particulars of Directors/Secretary
f.Section 58 & 236 – Appointment of First Secretary
g.Section 78 – Particulars of Shareholders & Shares
Other than that, additional essential and supporting personal documents encompasses: –
a.Photographic IDs and particulars of all Directors and signatories of the account
b.NRIC/Passport (Applicable for both local and expat business applicants)
c.Company Business Plan
d.Proof of current residential address
e.Tenancy agreement of business address (Applicable if any)
However, further extra contents would be needed by expats such as: –
a.Having an existing company (either in another country or back in their home nation)
b.Proof of existing company incorporation documents and invoices
c. Recent 3 months personal bank statements
As for opening fee, applicants are required pay a certain processing fee (varied among banks) and a minimum amount based on their respective applied bank account type.
Timeline in Opening a Business Bank Account
Upon submitting those documents, it takes approximately between two to three weeks before their business bank account can successfully open. However, this process could take longer as the KYC process is considered complex.
Signatory Details in Opening a Business Bank Account
Next, signatories appointed in signing the application of opening a business bank account, be it joint or solo would be determined solely between Directors of the company. If one Director is only present however, a Company Secretary would then be needed to certify the documents by providing her/his signature.
Online Bank Facilities
Moving on, local applicants can easily apply for online banking services, which provides business owners the means of engaging in a swift financial management process upon starting their respective corporate bank account(s).
Other Banking Services
Additional benefits that come with a business bank account include overdraft, issuing cheques, foreign banking facilities, and more. Further information can be found via the following link: Benefits of a Corporate Bank Account
Application Verifying Process
While waiting for confirmation on the business bank account status, banks may liaise with you as part of standard due diligence and KYC (Know Your Client) via biometric verification, done either through over-the-counter approach or face-to-face, depending on the regulations imposed by each banking institution.
Expat's Process in Opening a Business Bank Account
Now that we’ve summed up the overall details from a local perspective, let’s look at it from that of an expat! As a foreigner, is it possible to setup a Malaysian business bank account? The answer is a definite YES! However, as a foreign corporate entity, they will only be entitled to a limited range of bank account types. In addition, online banking will ONLY be available to their respective accounts upon their prerequisite documents being verified.
However, a certain condition is required to be met in order to do so, you would have to either be physically present here in Malaysia or get your identity confirmed by your local authority. With the recent global Covid-19 outbreak, the former approach seems unlikely.
Nevertheless, some international banking institutions have been moving towards online registration such as OCBC and HSBC, enabling expats the convenience of applying without the need to be present in Malaysia. How this is done is that, expats will initially liaise with bank officials via an online session while simultaneously downloading and signing manually a copy of the provided online application template. Then, the requested documents would be sent over via courier to the Malaysian bank branch.
On doing so, the expats would have to physically bring along their Director(s) original ID(s), passport(s), and a certified copy of their respective nation’s public notary as previously cited. Following, those physical documents would be compared along with their certified copies received by the bank for confirmation.
List of Highly Restricted Countries
However, it should be noted that certain high-risk countries are restricted from establishing a business bank account here in Malaysia, in accordance with Bank Negara (Malaysia’s National Bank). To find out more on the current list of affected nations, kindly click on the link to find out more: List of High Risk Countries Restricted from Opening a Malaysian Business Bank Account
Now that you’re all equipped with the necessary information to commence opening a business bank account, everything should now be swift and easy right? Unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as the process of document preparation is in fact a time-consuming and complex feat, especially when it comes to procuring them…
Instead, why not rely on your friendly and efficient specialized business-setup partner, Incorp? With 38 years’ worth of experience in the field of company secretarial matters, our team of professionals are more than capable in providing a quality and result-oriented service that not just gets the job done but also guaranteeing you the peace and assurance in successfully setting up your business bank account that’s in compliant with the regulations imposed by Companies Act 2016!
Interested? Please kindly email us your queries via our email or WhatsApp located below and we’ll revert to you as soon as possible: –
The Simple Step-by-Step Guide Towards Opening a Business Bank Account
In today’s modern society, if one were to ask any Malaysian out there, most would claim that they own a personal bank account that can be simply opened at their nearest banking institution. But what about the case of opening a business bank account? What makes it special and unique for corporate bodies? What are its benefits and most importantly, how do you open one?
Stick with us as this article is specially catered towards helping you in doing just that! With that, let’s begin…
Importance & Requirements of Opening a Business Bank Account
Now, you may be asking, “Why do I need a bank account specifically for corporate matters when a personal one could be used instead?” Well… Unlike the latter, opening a business bank account consists of numerous specialized
facilities catered towards handling business-related tasks more efficiently.
To start, most business owners intending to establish a business bank account would first need to procure copies of certain vital documents such as, their Company Resolution, displaying the approval of all company directors to start a business bank account (more can be learned about Company Resolutions via clicking the link here: Company Resolutions) along withSSM related forms.
Following, the required due diligence documents in opening a business bank account includes: –
i. Standard account opening
forms signed by the authorized signatories
ii. An array of documents CERTIFIED by a company secretary such as:
–
a. Section 14 – Superform (Application of Registration)
b. Section 15 – Notice of Registration (Certificate issued by SSM (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia) confirming the stated company’s successful incorporation)
c. Section 17 – Certificate of Incorporation
d. Section 46 – Particulars of Registered Address
e. Section 58 – Particulars of Directors/Secretary
f. Section 58 & 236 – Appointment of First Secretary
g. Section 78 – Particulars of Shareholders & Shares
Other than that, additional essential and supporting personal
documents encompasses: –
a. Photographic IDs and particulars of all Directors and signatories of the account
b. NRIC/Passport (Applicable for both local and expat business applicants)
c. Company Business Plan
d. Proof of current residential address
e. Tenancy agreement of business address (Applicable if any)
However, further extra contents would be needed by expats such as: –
a. Having an existing company (either in another country or back in their home nation)
b. Proof of existing company incorporation documents and invoices
c. Recent 3 months personal bank statements
As for opening fee, applicants are required pay a certain processing fee (varied among banks) and a minimum amount based on their respective applied bank account type.
Timeline in Opening a Business Bank Account
Upon submitting those documents, it takes approximately between two to three weeks before their business bank account can successfully open. However, this process could take longer as the KYC process is considered complex.
Signatory Details in Opening a Business Bank Account
Next, signatories appointed in signing the application of opening a business bank account, be it joint or solo would be determined solely between Directors of the company. If one Director is only present however, a Company Secretary would then be needed to certify the documents by providing her/his signature.
Online Bank Facilities
Moving on, local applicants can easily apply for online banking services, which provides business owners the means of engaging in a swift financial management process upon starting their respective corporate bank account(s).
Other Banking Services
Additional benefits that come with a business bank account include overdraft, issuing cheques, foreign banking facilities, and more. Further information can be found via the following link: Benefits of a Corporate Bank Account
Application Verifying Process
While waiting for confirmation on the business bank account status, banks may liaise with you as part of standard due diligence and KYC (Know Your Client) via biometric verification, done either through over-the-counter approach or face-to-face, depending on the regulations imposed by each banking institution.
Expat's Process in Opening a Business Bank Account
Now that we’ve summed up the overall details from a local perspective, let’s look at it from that of an expat! As a foreigner, is it possible to setup a Malaysian business bank account? The answer is a definite YES! However, as a foreign corporate entity, they will only be entitled to a limited range of bank account types. In addition, online banking will ONLY be available to their respective accounts upon their prerequisite documents being verified.
However, a certain condition is required to be met in order to do so, you would have to either be physically present here in Malaysia or get your identity confirmed by your local authority. With the recent global Covid-19 outbreak, the former approach seems unlikely.
Nevertheless, some international banking institutions have been moving towards online registration such as OCBC and HSBC, enabling expats the convenience of applying without the need to be present in Malaysia. How this is done is that, expats will initially liaise with bank officials via an online session while simultaneously downloading and signing manually a copy of the provided online application template. Then, the requested documents would be sent over via courier to the Malaysian bank branch.
On doing so, the expats would have to physically bring along their Director(s) original ID(s), passport(s), and a certified copy of their respective nation’s public notary as previously cited. Following, those physical documents would be compared along with their certified copies received by the bank for confirmation.
List of Highly Restricted Countries
However, it should be noted that certain high-risk countries are restricted from establishing a business bank account here in Malaysia, in accordance with Bank Negara (Malaysia’s National Bank). To find out more on the current list of affected nations, kindly click on the link to find out more: List of High Risk Countries Restricted from Opening a Malaysian Business Bank Account
Now that you’re all equipped with the necessary information to commence opening a business bank account, everything should now be swift and easy right? Unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as the process of document preparation is in fact a time-consuming and complex feat, especially when it comes to procuring them…
Instead, why not rely on your friendly and efficient specialized business-setup partner, Incorp? With 38 years’ worth of experience in the field of company secretarial matters, our team of professionals are more than capable in providing a quality and result-oriented service that not just gets the job done but also guaranteeing you the peace and assurance in successfully setting up your business bank account that’s in compliant with the regulations imposed by Companies Act 2016!
Interested? Please kindly email us your queries via our email or WhatsApp located below and we’ll revert to you as soon as possible: –
Email: secretarial@elegant.com.my
WhatsApp: 017-2727118
Keywords:#bankaccount #incorp #elegantmanagement
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