It’s great that you want to open a bunq Business account!
To make sure you can open an account with us as seamlessly as possible, one of the things we need to know is the UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) of your business. We will need one or more of the underlying documents as required by law:
Why do we need to know this?
Long story short... it’s required by law:
We are obliged under the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) to register the name(s), date of birth and ID of the businesses’ Ultimate Beneficial Owner.
For capital companies an UBO is a natural person who has an interest of more than 25% through direct or indirect ownership, or who controls the entity. For foundations and associations an UBO is a natural person who directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of ownership or is entitled to vote for more than 25% with respect to an amendment of the articles of association, or has control of the entity. For partnerships the UBO is a natural person who directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of the ownership, or is entitled to vote for more than 25% or has control of the partnership.
For this reason, you’ll need to provide us with some documentation. We’ll ask you to show us the following in order to successfully open an account for your business:
Registration Numbers
You will need to provide your country's Registration Number or Tax ID during sign up. This means that your company will need to be registered at your country's respective Chamber of Commerce. You can check out accepted numbers and where to locate them below:
🇧🇪 Belgium: Ondernemingsnummer
🇫🇷 France: SIREN or SIRET number
🇩🇪 Germany: Eingetragener Kaufmann (e.K.,e.Kfm, or e.Kfr) number or a Handelsregisternummer.
🇮🇹 Italy: numero Registro Imprese (numeroRI).
🇳🇱 Netherlands: Kamer van Koophandel (KvK number).
🇵🇹 Portugal: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira
Through the registration number we obtain:
- Info and identification of your company directors.
- Info related to your company activities and legal form.
- Authorized representatives (if applicable).
- Deed of Incorporation (DOI). This is a legal document issued by the civil notary that proves the registration of your company. We’ll ask for this document if your Chamber of Commerce excerpt doesn’t provide all of the info we need to confirm your business.
What does the Deed of Incorporation contain?
- Info about your issued shares.
- Info about the division of shares between your shareholders/Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs).
Written consent for jointly authorized directors
Jointly authorized directors can’t act on their own without authorization from all directors involved in their business. For businesses registered in the Netherlands directors might be listed as having joint or limited authorization (gezamenlijk bevoegd or beperkte bevoegd on the Chamber of Commerce excerpt).
If you are trying to sign up as a jointly authorized director, we need to make sure that all authorized directors are okay with opening the account. If this applies to you, we’ll ask you provide us with:
- A written statement signed by all directors giving their permission to open the account.
- A photo of an ID (identification document) from each director that is jointly authorized.
Shareholders registry
A shareholder register is a list of active owners of your company's shares. We ask you to provide this in the event that a share transfer takes place and the ownership of your company changes. By providing this, we can verify if your company shares have been transferred between different parties.
Director’s proof of residence
When you open an account with us, we might ask you to confirm the residential address of the director. We accept as a proof or residence the following documents:
- A rental agreement (with signatures and no older than 6 months)
- Registration at the municipality (no longer than 1 year old)
- Recent utility bill (gas, water or electricity from the last 3 months)
🚫 We do not accept:
- Bank statements
- Cell phone bills or any other bill
- Proof of property ownership
- Proof of temporary stay (shorter than 6 months)
This is to confirm that you, as the company director(s) live in the same country that you run your business. You can also find more information regarding our geolocation and address check.
Freelancer without Chamber of Commerce registration
More information on how to sign up as a freelancer can be found in this topic
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