Applying To Hong Kong Banks? Results After Visiting 20 in 2 days (As an American Entrepreneur)

What is the most important part of opening a new company – in Hong Kong or anywhere?

Getting a bank account opened up.

Having trouble getting a business bank account open in Hong Kong? Or other parts of the world?

You’re not alone.

I’m hearing it more and more from everyone. More and more rejection letters.

Have you been following international business trends over the years? Then you have seen quite a tightening up on new business account openings. Hong Kong is a financial center of the world, yet the past couple years has been getting so much more of a hassle to get an account opened.

As I have been working with so many clients with their bank account opening headaches. This sparked my interest to re-experience this tedious process for myself.

It is much more difficult than “back in the day”!

I spent 2 days visiting as many banks in Hong Kong as I could. There are so many banks in Hong Kong! I estimate there to be over 50, depending on your criteria for a bank – commercial or retail or investment. I was able to cover about 20 of them. That is – depending if you consider walking into a branch and getting an immediate rejection as a bank visit or not!

How Is Your HK Bank Search Going?

Before we get too far into it, let’s share where we are in the Hong Kong banking process, fill out the quick poll below and see where others are in your situation too.

What Stage Are You In For HK Banking?

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A reader, Ben, sent me this amazing email and I want to share it with all of you:

Hi Michael,We spoke online a while back regarding a HK bank account, we also met at the DC BKK conference where we spoke about the requirements and struggles of a HK bank account.

The last time I went to HK I came into a few difficulties this time I’m going with a rental month contract for my Bangkok residency (don’t laugh!!), and will explain I’m growing the business in Asia etc and don’t have utility bills etc.

I guess my chances are pretty slim, so I decided to hit a few banks while I’m there. This lead me to creating a spreadsheet with lots of useful info which I think I would be useful for your listeners / site visitors. I used your post as a base and then worked through.

It includes which banks / phone numbers / branches etc. So if anyone is in a similar situation to me (with slim chances) then they can organise multiple interviews as I have.

PS
Do you have any tips as to how to handle the interview at the bank? From our last conversation I understood I have to say I’m starting operations in HK / Asia, plan to grow the business there, hence the bank account…Ben

Now, back to the normal banker guide!

Update from a Reader Nov 2017

Still tough, even tougher, to get a Hong Kong bank. A reader, let’s say “Joe” sent in this report:

we are going round with banks. some feedback as below:dah sing bank: no to passport applicant
ocbc wing hang: we dont accept e-commerce trader
bea: we cant accept TT payment that dont have full details of transaction (reason local bank compliance regulation)
DBS: on going review, no idea of account opening yet, seems that it will be costly if they willing to open
HSBC: closing our current account, been banking with them since 2009. comp secretary told us to retry opening an account again. (we called and asked for reason they didnt want to tell, asked to write : closure team for the reason)
standard charted: no respond yet
boc: need a physical office
citibank: need a physical office
UOB: need HKD1million and said they dont actually serve SME
Wing lung: no respond at all
Hang Seng: emailed documents, have yet to hear back

let us know if you have any luck with the bank. it seems that you walk in to the bank? i have been told banks in HK dont entertain walk in.a distressed reader

And he got back to us towards the end of November with this to share:

good day!thought some updates for your readers.
last we spoke we met up with DBS and was told would take 3-4 weeks as long list of application.
banker said HSBC and standard charted closes a lot of accounts of late. so hence the long waiting time to pass the approval, DBS set up fees is steep HKD10000.
and i believe monthly account fees is HKD150 for online banking.

on another note, met with a RM in OCBC wing hang branch in central, tried to sell me some insurance products and said will ease my business account opening but still subjected to approval. Same info i got with Public Bank HK, wanted to discuss some products with me. Wonder if you have feedback on this? it is really easier to open a business account with them if we buy their insurance products? We didn’t continue the account opening process with ocbc but was just wondering perhaps some info would be helpful to your readers who looking to open a business account in HK.

other banks that were previously said will get back to me didnt get back to me for eg. hang seng bank. Maybe because they are linked with HSBC.

i managed to open offshore business account in singapore for my HK company as well but i dont really like offshore account as i strongly believe a biz registered in HK should have a local bank account.

once i have settled my banking and get more feedback with the banks, i will probably email the team in InvestHK and HKMA about this hassle and trouble. HK dont seems like a good place for business anymore, cost has definately gone up a lot since we incorporated in 2009.
distressed HK business owner

Let’s hope it gets better….some new services forming I hope to announce soon.

Another Nov 2017 Update

Another update towards the end of 2017

Hi Michael, thanks for the very informative blog post – lots of interesting information and I just wish I’d seen all of this earlier!
I’m actually coming to Hong Kong on Monday (the first visit in years) and had expected to attend a bank account opening appointment with HSBC in Wan Chai. However, having submitted all the requested documents, they aren’t even willing to meet with me and have denied the meeting request! I registered a HK Ltd company with Startupr.hk some months ago and was aware that the setting up of a HK business bank account could be difficult – but thought that if I visited HK in person, with the correct documentation i’d manage to get one somewhere – now I’m not so sure… To give you some background – I’m from the U.K. so a British Passport holder but I am based in Indonesia, so no HK address other than a leasing agreement for a virtual office with Jumpstart.hk
My question is this: Since I am coming to HK anyway between Monday and Wednesday next week (partly for an Indonesian visa run and also to process another visa for China to meet a potential business partner in Shanghai on Wednesday night) do you think it would still be worth my while collecting my official company documents from Startupr.hk and visiting any branches in person? Also, it sounds like you have a ton of experience in terms of doing business in Asia and I’d love the opportunity to meet for a quick coffee if you have time? There may be the chance to collaborate in some way?
PS If the traditional bank account fails I’ve found a new option with Neat Business.hk – so there is a chance that all is not lost yet…Richard

Now back to the original article.

What I told the Bank When I Visited

I’m sure depending on the day and the client services rep I talked to at the bank I would get different results. For this exercise, here is what I disclosed to the bank tellers and client account managers when I walked in:

A new business owner
American
Passport only, no Hong Kong ID card
Business is new, under 1 year old.
I’m a White Male, mid thirties
Clothing – button down short sleeve shirt, khaki shorts, shoes
Business Type Import Export and Marketing Consulting
I only speak English

I did this to represent most of the clients I am working with. Though the American nationality was an extra negative in this process. We’ll will dig going through these various banks below.

What have your own experiences been in applying for bank accounts in Hong Kong? Please note, this is for business (corporate) accounts, and not personal. I believe personal accounts are still easy and straightforward for you to get in HK, but didn’t attempt that in today’s post.

Now, in no particular order, let’s dig into each of the banks I went to:

Updates September 2016

We are still getting tons of emails from readers, such as the below:

Curious if it’s still possible to get a bank account for HK company. We’ve been looking to do this for a while but keep getting jerked around. Recently we were about to head out a couple weeks ago to file applications, but we were told we needed approval from Mainland China to do so. So we didn’t end up going. What do you believe is feasible these days? We’re an e-commerce business and source/ship apparel products from Thailand. But because banking system isn’t great out here we need an entity outside of TH to link up with stripe, Braintree and such. Also I’m curious if it’s possible to sidestep the process by purchasing an existing HK company with bank account and transfer it into our names. Curious to hear from you what is possible these days.Cheers, Jordan

We have been discussing and updating people in our newsletter (such as this one 2 weeks ago about HKMA urging banks to loosen up) that the HK government and regulators don’t want the banks to be so strict.

But the banks don’t want to open up. Some say it is because they prefer dealing with only bigger clients anyway and use this as an excuse, while others say it really is because they want to be extra careful to avoid fines from US regulators.

HSBC SME centers are all over Hong Kong. I went with my friend Mike “The Greek” as he doesn’t currently have an HSBC account. We went to the Jordan branch on Nathan road without an appointment.

Entering the retail bank location on the ground floor, the greeter asked how to help us. She was friendly and when we said a business account, sent us to the SME center on the 18th floor.

The secretary greeted us and then had a small business banking client rep meet us in a conference room within about 5 minutes. He asked us to confirm it was a business account for a Hong Kong limited company. He also asked if it was for a new company or a company that was older than one year.

He then gave us a checklist, which I’ll type out here:

Account Opening in Hong Kong – Limited Company Established in Hong Kong

* True copy Certification of Incorporation

* CPA / lawyer / banker / notary public in a Financial Action Task Force (FATC) member comparable jurisdiction acceptable to HSBC or

* Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) member, or

* HSBC branch officer

Recommended format: Certified must sign and date the copy document (printing his/her name clearly in capitals underneath) and clearly indicate his/her position on it. Certifier must state that it is a true copy of the original (or words to similar effect) and the number of pages to be recorded

Number of directors needed to form a quorum / beneficial owners to be present for the account opening.

* For the sample of the required documents please refer to the website www.commercia.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/sampledoc_e

A. Company Registration Documents
1. Certificate of Incorporation (CI) and change of name (if applicable)
2. Valid Business Registration Certificate (BRC)
3. Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) / Articles of association and any amending resolutions.
4. Latest notification of change of secretary and director (appointment/cessation) (form D2A/ND2A), return of allotments (form SC1/NSC1) and/or Instrument of Transfer, if applicable.
5. (For newly established company)
5a) Company Search report / company particulars search issued within 6 months and
5b) Incorporation form (NC1 /NNC1) or (NC1G/NNC1G) / Notification of First Secretary and Director (form D1) and
5c) Director / Shareholder / Beneficial owner declaration (DD),sample available upon request, issued within 6 months.
6) For company established over 1 year
6a) Company search report / company particulars search issued within 6 months and
6b) Latest Annual Return (form AR1/NAR1)

B. Documents Required from 2 Directors, All Authorized Signatories, All beneficial owners, and 2 key Controllers
– Identification document and nationality proof

C. Documents Required from 2 Directors, All Authorized Signatories, All beneficial owners, and 2 key Controllers
C1: Residential Address proof
C2: Permanent Address proof (if different from residential address)

D. Documents Required from 2 Directors, All Authorized Signatories, All beneficial owners, All key Controllers, and ALL direct appointees

D1: Full name, ID type, number, and date of birth.

E. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Documents
Applicable HSBC declaration form and/or IRS W form to establish your tax status under FATCA. For document templates and more information about FATCA, please refer to the HSBC website at www.faca.hsbc.com/en/emb/hongkong or IRS website at www.irs.gov/FATCA

F. Payments and Forms for Account Opening

F1. HKD check of 10,000 HKD for initial deposit, company search, and special company account opening charges, where applicable. (Please refer to the latest commercial tariff – http://www.commercial.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/commercial)

F2. Mandate, account opening form, and signature cards

G. Additional Documents Required for Special Companies
G1. Corporate Shareholders

Ownership structure chart showing company name, % shareholding, the country of incorporation, the country of business address in each Intermediate Owner up to the Beneficial Owners of the company and specifying the issuance of bearer shares in the chain of ownership (including the company, all Intermediate Owners and Beneficial Owners), certified by director. Indicate if there are family members amount the Beneficial Owners and the family’s total collective % shareholding, if applicable.
G2. If Beneficial Owners in your Company is a Trust
Trust deed, identification proof and residential address proof, and identification proof of trustee.

The process was so fast it amazed me. The SME center was empty. We went at 10:30am on a Thursday so maybe that was a good time to go. Maybe I should come to this branch more often, the TST and Central branches are so overloaded whenever I visit there.

Source GlobalFromAsia