HOW TO PROPERLY USE HONG KONG BANK ACCOUNTS UNDER CRS？

Owning a Hong Kong bank account is always convenient for international transactions. Since CRS launched in China Mainland and Hong Kong in 2017, opening a hong kong bank account becomes more difficult. More seriously, certain accounts even face a risk of being canceled as it looks "suspicious".

Current Situation on opening Hong Kong bank account

1.More and more countries are considered to be sensitive by the bank, due to the unstable regional conflicts.

 

2.Some banks like HSBC set up higher standard since the U.S accused them of helping money laundering. Also, Hong Kong government has already built up a system to fight against money laundering, financial organizations like banks are a part of the system.

 

3.Banks prefer potential clients, who are willing to buy financial insurance and have a big amount balance.

 

4.Some Hong Hong company bank accounts have been canceled for without supportive documents to prove the company was running a legal business.

 

5.Most of the bank staff, who handle issues on opening bank accounts are fresh graduates, they lack experiences to have an overall evaluation of one's business. To avoid troubles, they may deny your application for opening a company bank account.

 

What are most of the banks' concerns for opening a company bank account?

1.The source of the fund

2.Nationality of board members and shareholders

3.Industry of the business

4.Turnover

5.Income and expenditure 

6.Documents related to business

7.Financial report

All in all, considering different conditions of the applicant, the bank may ask for additional documents, like Bill of Lading, package list, and invoice. We suggest keeping all business related documents well.

 

Keep a regular management

1.For cross-sectoral business, it is recommended to open different companies and bank accounts. If a company have business in garment, furniture, accessories and other fields, the banks may raise more doubts for its real business.

 

2. Properly and timely doing Hong Kong company auditing, the bank may ask to check the auditing report if needed.

 

Properly use the bank account

1.Do not transfer as soon as receiving money. For example, you just received 10,000USD and transfer to another account immediately.

2.If not necessary, do not receive the money from sanctioned countries.

3.Do not transfer to suspicious underground agents.

4.Have reasonable explanations for every transaction.

5.Timely pay management fees, keep enough balance.

6.Keep having transactions regularly, login E-bank every month.

 

What if HK company bank account has been canceled?
If you do not cancel the registration of the Hong Kong company,  auditing report is still needed. Also, the applicant can choose other banks to open a new company bank account. Moreover, do not fool the bank by submitting fake documents, it's not hard to check the authenticity.

（source: HiTouch）