Incorporating your company is step one. Your directors then need to make the company operational. Opening the company bank account is one of the first jobs.
The bank wants more than an Australian Company Number (ACN). It needs to understand the company, who owns and controls it, who its directors are and who has authority to operate the account. It also needs information to satisfy Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) requirements.
A best-practice Company Bank Account Opening Kit puts this information and corporate authority together before the directors approach the bank.
Legal Consolidated includes this banking machinery in its Company Incorporation package.
What is a Company Bank Account Opening Kit?
A Company Bank Account Opening Kit brings together the documents and information that support the company’s application for a bank account.
The Legal Consolidated Directors’ Bank Account Opening Kit includes:
- ASIC Certificate of Incorporation;
- current ASIC Company Extract;
- Company Constitution;
- Record of Resolutions of Directors approving the bank account;
- authority for the nominated bank account signatories;
- directors’ details;
- relevant shareholder and ultimate beneficial owner information; and
- a formal bank instruction letter for the director to sign, bringing the package together.
The Bank Opening Letter provides the identification requested by the bank. It allows the bank to carry out its own onboarding, AML/CTF and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.
Our lawyers have prepared Company Bank Account Opening Kits since 1988
Our lawyers have prepared company documentation and Company Bank Account Opening Kits since 1988. Banking practices, company law and AML/CTF requirements have developed considerably over that time. So has our Kit.
Solicitors, accountants and financial planners build legal documents for their clients on our website. We continually seek practical feedback from them. These trusted advisers see what banks actually ask their clients to produce. They also see where missing corporate paperwork slows the process. Their feedback helps us continually refine the Legal Consolidated Bank Kit to reflect the real world.
What do Australian banks want when opening a company bank account?
Each bank has its own procedures. However, the published requirements of NAB, CommBank, Westpac and ANZ reveal a consistent pattern. Depending on the company and bank, they seek information concerning:
- the company’s legal identity and ACN;
- registered office and business address;
- directors;
- shareholders and beneficial owners;
- ownership and control;
- people authorised to operate the account; and
- identification of relevant individuals.
For example, NAB’s companies checklist asks for company registration information and details of directors, beneficial owners and signatories. CommBank’s published requirements similarly deal with directors, beneficial owners and people operating the account. Westpac expressly addresses beneficial ownership. ANZ’s KYC material deals with directors, beneficial owners and signatories.
Different banks use different forms. But the underlying questions are the same:
What is the company? Who owns or controls it? Who runs it? Who has authority to operate its bank account?
The Legal Consolidated Company Bank Account Opening Kit answers those questions. It is provided for free with the company incorporation.
How does our Company Bank Account Opening Kit help?
The Legal Consolidated Kit puts the relevant corporate information into one coherent package.
ASIC Certificate and Company Extract
These provide core evidence about the company’s registration, officeholders and corporate structure.
Company Constitution
The Constitution contains the company’s internal governance rules. It provides the legal machinery sitting behind the company rather than leaving the directors with only the ASIC registration documents.
Directors’ resolution
The directors formally record the decision to open the bank account and the authority given to the nominated signatories. This creates a corporate record of the banking decision.
Directors and beneficial owners
The Bank Kit brings together relevant information about the human beings behind the company. This assists with the bank’s KYC and beneficial ownership enquiries.
Bank account signatories
The directors’ resolution identifies the authority given to nominated signatories. The formal bank letter directs the bank to that resolution.
Formal bank instruction letter
A pile of documents is not a Bank Account Opening Kit. The letter identifies the company, explains the package and brings the supporting documents and authority together.
Why does the bank need directors and beneficial owner information?
There is law behind the paperwork. The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) requires customer due diligence. For a company customer, the AML/CTF framework requires banks to look beyond the company name and establish relevant information about:
- the customer;
- people acting on its behalf;
- beneficial owners; and
- ownership and control.
AUSTRAC explains that beneficial ownership looks to individuals who ultimately own or control the customer. The enquiry therefore does not necessarily stop at the first layer of the share register.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 also deal with corporate existence, governance, ownership and control. This explains why a bank wants more than the Certificate of Incorporation. It wants to understand the company and the people behind it.
Why have a directors’ resolution to open the company bank account?
A company is a separate legal person, but human beings make decisions and act on its behalf.
Section 198A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) states that the company’s business is managed by the direction of its directors. The Act also contains machinery for directors’ resolutions. Section 248A deals with circulating resolutions for companies with more than one director. Section 248B deals with resolutions of a proprietary company with only one director.
The Legal Consolidated Kit puts this corporate governance machinery to work. The directors’ resolution records:
- the decision to open the company bank account; and
- the authority given to the nominated signatories.
The Bank Account Opening Letter then directs the bank to that resolution. Instead of leaving the company’s banking authority resting on an undocumented conversation, the corporate records provide evidence of the decision.
Company registration is step one — then the company needs to open a bank account
The ASIC Certificate confirms that the company is registered. The company then needs machinery to operate. Directors make decisions. People exercise authority for the company. Money moves through bank accounts. Banks need to understand ownership and control. Corporate records provide evidence of who is authorised to act.
This is why Legal Consolidated goes beyond company registration. Our Company Incorporation package includes, free of charge, the corporate documentation needed for the directors to take the next steps.
Is your company incorporation provider an Australian law firm?
There are websites selling Australian company registrations. These websites pretend to be law firms, but they are not. A non-law-firm website providing a document based on a lawyer’s master template does not mean that a law firm prepared and accepts responsibility for your finished legal documents.
Legal Consolidated Barristers & Solicitors is the law firm. We are an Australian law firm preparing legal documents for clients throughout Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.
Our lawyers prepare the company documents. Legal Consolidated is responsible for the legal documents it prepares.
Frequently asked questions about Company Bank Account Opening Kits
What documents do I need to open a company bank account in Australia?
Banks have their own requirements. They seek information about the company’s identity, directors, ownership and control, authorised signatories and relevant individuals. A Company Bank Account Opening Kit puts the company’s corporate documentation and authority into an organised package.
Is an ASIC Certificate enough to open a company bank account?
The ASIC Certificate proves the company has been registered. Banks seek further information for account opening and AML/CTF purposes, including information about the people who own, control and act for the company.
Why do I need a directors’ resolution for a company bank account?
The resolution records the directors’ decision to establish the banking arrangements and the authority given to nominated signatories. It provides corporate evidence of the authority behind the banking instructions.
What does UBO mean when opening a company bank account?
UBO means ‘ultimate beneficial owner’. Australia’s AML/CTF framework requires enquiries into the individuals who ultimately own or control the company.
Does Legal Consolidated provide a Company Bank Account Opening Kit?
Yes. Legal Consolidated includes its Directors’ Bank Account Opening Kit with its Company Incorporation package. It is a free service. Our lawyers have prepared and refined company banking documentation since 1988, with ongoing practical feedback from solicitors, accountants and financial planners.