{"id":4628,"date":"2026-02-14T23:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premierfiduciary.com\/stage\/?p=4628"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:43:23","slug":"the-evolution-of-regulated-corporate-account-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premierfiduciary.com\/zh\/the-evolution-of-regulated-corporate-account-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Regulated Corporate Account Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The rise of digital banks using Standard Chartered or DBS as a cash custodian, there\u2019s now much greater likelihood to open your entity bank account. <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Premier Fiduciary<\/b>
\n1 Raffles Place,
\n#39-01, One Raffles Place,
\nSingapore 048616<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Over the past 5 years, opening company bank accounts at any bank in Singapore, Hong Kong and Mauritius was and continues to be incredibly difficult. Many clients shut down their entities simply because they could not open their accounts, either due to scrutiny of offshore companies or the onshore Singapore or Hong Kong company doesn\u2019t have enough substance within these jurisdictions.<\/p>

But with the onset of better regulations in offshore jurisdictions, and the rise of digital banks using Standard Chartered or DBS as a cash custodian, there\u2019s now much greater likelihood to open your entity bank account. This article is intended to offer some clarity into how to open your entity bank account, and how we can help.<\/p>


What is a digital bank?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>

The major digital banks we see in Hong Kong are Airwallex, Statrys and Worldfirst. In Singapore, we see Airwallex, Aspire and Moolahgo. In Mauritius, we see ABC Bank and Bank One. The first difference to these banks, compared to your traditional bank, is the use of technology to initiate the application. You will be required to undergo digital facial recognition, have your passport ready, provide your corporate documents to upload, including your personal TIN (tax identification number) and proof of address, and describe in detail the activities of the company. Once these are all uploaded, the bank compliance will review the documents and then arrange a video call a week later to ask you a series of questions like any bank. All of this is done remotely.<\/p>

The second difference is that these banks have already onboarded Premier Fiduciary as the service provider<\/strong> with an onboarding link, so we can send you the link that you will use to open the account or we will initiate the account opening for you with some forms you will complete and return. The bank onboarding department will have a relationship manager to regularly contact us to confirm the details of the entity, and other compliance aspects of the entity.<\/p>

The biggest advantage of these digital banks is that the custodian bank will probably be Standard Chartered or DBS, meaning when you issue invoices, it will read: ABC Limited, SWIFT: DBSSGSG, Account Number 123456. Your counterparties will not see the name of your digital bank, and most importantly, your bank account funds are safely kept in the Standard Chartered or DBS custodian bank. However, the digital bank plays a pivotal role in finalizing the compliance side of the account opening.<\/p>


What are required to open a digital bank account for my entity?<\/strong><\/h4>
  1. Activity Can Not Be Investment Holding or Lending:<\/strong> None of the banks canopen for \u201cinvestment holding\u201d or \u201clending\u201d in the activities part of the application. The reason is because the commercial banks see this as a regulated activity.<\/li>
  2. Trading of Physical Goods Highly Welcome:<\/strong> Banks like to see Bills of Lading on physical trading of goods, including invoices and websites of all counterparties.<\/li>
  3. Consulting is Scrutinized but Possible Depending on Personal Background:<\/strong> The bank will want to see that the director and beneficial owner have a history of consulting, the type of consulting, the names of the entities and websites consulted to.<\/li>
  4. Individual Directors and Shareholders:<\/strong> We strongly suggest you set up newly incorporated entities with a natural person director and shareholder. We suggest you use only one director and shareholder, otherwise, the bank will run KYC on every director and shareholder, including identifying the source of funds (pay slips, dividends, CV).<\/li>
  5. Get Your Documents Ready:<\/strong> You must contact us to ensure you have a recently issued Certificate of Incumbency and related corporate documents, plus your personal bank statements, proof of address, TIN and passport.<\/li>
  6. Offshore Company Account Opening:<\/strong> If you have an offshore company like BVI or Seychelles, we are experiencing a great deal of success opening such bank accounts if you meet the requirements above. Unlike the local retail banks (i.e. HSBC, DBS, UOB, OCBC), we can get your offshore company account opened at a digital bank.<\/li><\/ol>



    Opening Singapore and Hong Kong company bank accounts?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>

    Singapore ACRA is following the Hong Kong Companies Registry (TCSP) in promulgating a new set of regulations for Corporate Service Providers commencing June 2025. Under these regulations in Singapore and Hong Kong, the biggest issues for opening bank accounts will be:<\/p>

    1. Proof of Physical Operational Address and Economic Substance in Singapore:<\/strong> Banks will require proof of physical operational address with signage separate from the company\u2019s registered office or the company secretary\u2019s address. Premier Fiduciary can provide this operational address at One Raffles Place with signage and a fixed desk. In Hong Kong, the banker will visit the physical address and take a picture of the signage;<\/li>
    2. Business Activity Requirements:<\/strong> The business activity cannot be \u201cinvestment holding\u201d or \u201clending\u201d. It must be an operational company, preferably trading of physical goods, and ideally there should be at least one local employee;<\/li>
    3. Enhanced KYC and AML Checks:<\/strong> As part of the enhanced regulations, banks will implement more stringent and rigorous KYC and AML checks. This will involve thorough background documentation for directors, shareholders, and beneficial owners. Premier Fiduciary can assist in ensuring that all necessary documents are prepared and fully compliant with these requirements.<\/li><\/ol>



      What if my entity is an Investment Holding Company?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>

      <\/p>

      The commercial banks officially moved away from opening investment holding company accounts. We can continue to open these accounts with brokerages and private banks, but highly unlikely at commercial banks. However, if you are looking to make a substantial investment, we have successfully used regulated funds (i.e. Singapore VCC (Variable Capital Companies), Cayman SPC (Segregated Portfolio Company) and Mauritius Funds) for high-net-worth clients to invest using these vehicles into the target entities with a great deal of privacy. Although this is more expensive than only using an entity, it provides major benefits, including:<\/p>