Hong Kong Company Incorporation Guide (9) - Opening a Corporate Banking in Hong Kong for your Hong Kong Company

1. Introduction

It is not a requirement that you have to set up the bank account in Hong Kong for your Hong Kong company. Indeed, there is no requirement that you even have to set up a bank account for your Hong Kong company.

It is the sole discretion of the company, more specifically, the powers of the director or board of directors of a Hong Kong company to decide whether to open a bank account, where to open the bank account and the number of bank accounts required.

2. Banks Available in Hong Kong

For the interest of our clients, we have enquired the banks listed below on the requirements for the opening of a corporate account with them. It is noted however that you can choose any other bank to open the bank account for your company.

1. Standard Chartered Bank: www.standardchartered.com
(1) All directors, shareholders and bank authorized signatories need to provide address proof, e.g. original water/telephone bill, bank statement issued within 2 months. If the correspondence address is different, address proof is also required. If any address proof is not in English nor Chinese, you are required to have a local lawyer to translate it into English and certify its English version.

(2) All directors, shareholders and bank authorized signatories may come to Hong Kong or go to their branch/subsidiary (not representative office) in any country, so that they can witness their signatures and verify their passport copies. You can find the addresses of their branches at www.standardchartered.com/global/home/globalbranch_content.html

2. Bank of East Asia: www.hkbea.com
(1) for any director/shareholder/bank authorized not having a bank account with the bank for more than a year, a bank reference letter from the personal banker of each director/shareholder/bank authorized signatory introducing him/her to open a bank account and the bank account must have been opened for more than 1 year.

(2) all directors, shareholders and bank authorized signatories may come to Hong Kong or go to their branch/subsidiary (not representative office) in any country, so that they can witness their signatures and verify their passport copies. You can find the addresses of their branches at http://www.hkbea.com/whp_servint/whp_network.html

3. HSBC: www.hsbc.com.hk
(1) A bankers?reference letter from the personal banker of each director/shareholder/bank authorized signatory introducing him/her to open a bank account (sample to be provided by us) and the bank account must have been opened for more than 1 year. (Latest Update: The requirement for bankers?reference letter is waived)

(2) Evidence to prove the present occupation of each director/shareholder/bank authorized signatory, e.g. a bank reference letter from the banker of the existing company of each director/shareholder/bank authorized signatory specifying its nature of business and that he/she is a shareholder or director of that company

(3) HSBC require to verify the signatures of the bank officers who issue bank reference letters, so the letters are required to be faxed to us for their verification first

(4) All directors, shareholders & bank authorized signatories can come to HK for opening bank accounts and then come again about 3 weeks later for collecting internet banking password in person.

We can assist and act as referral for the open of bank account at a cost of USD350 each for clients who incorporate their companies through us. The charge for bank account alone is USD450. Physical presence of the authorised signer(s) in Hong Kong is required.

3. Operating Your Corporate Bank Accounts

Bank accounts with the banks mentioned above can be operated outside Hong Kong in the following ways :

Phone Banking Service/Internet Banking Service
All the above 3 banks provide Internet Banking Facilities, by which you can use Internet to assess your bank accounts for making balance enquiries and transfers. There is no limit for making transfers for Standard Chartered Bank, but they have a set up fee of HK$800 and a monthly fee of about HK$200 to HK$300. For the other 2 banks, the maximum limit for transfers is HK$2,000,000 per day, but the bank charge is only several hundred HK$ per annum without a set up fee.

ATM Card
You can use ATM cards issued by the relevant banks to withdraw money from the Company’s bank accounts using any specified ATM machines ("Sirrus" for Standard Chartered Bank and "Plus" for HSBC and Bank of East Asia) around the world. There will be a bank charge for each transaction and some exchange loss.

We could provide assistance to you and help you to set up a corporate bank account in HBSC Hong Kong for your company, be it registered in Hong Kong or anywhere else. Please click here browse the detailed procedures and our fees.