The information collected by the Bank serves primarily the following objectives:

• to identify and verify the person(s) who apply for the account
• to identify and verify the person(s) who will exercise control over the account
• to verify the nature and use of the account
• to comply with the applicable laws and regulations  

As such and depending on whether the applicant is a legal or natural person the Bank will ask for a number of documents like passports, utility bills, incorporation documents, evidence for the source of wealth and more. Further, the bank will collect information regarding the size and purpose of both incoming transfers and outgoing transfers, expected volume of transactions and expected account size in addition to the essential information regarding the service offered by the bank, such as credit/debit cards, e-banking access, currencies etc.

Below is an indicative list of the minimum documents needed for the account application:

Natural Person:

1. Passport or national ID
2. A utility bill or another Bank statement showing your current residence
3. Document evidencing source of funds 
4. Tax statements

Legal Person:

1. Incorporation documents
2. Documents evidencing registration with the regulator (where applicable)
3. Passport or national ID of the persons who have control over the legal entity
4. Passport or national ID of the persons who will have control over the account
5. Document evidencing source of funds 

From our experience a bank application takes two weeks to a month, depending on the bank and account type, and considering that the application is duly completed and no additional information is required.