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The Central Bank of The Bahamas licenses and supervises banks and trust companies under the Banks and Trust Companies (Regulation) Act 2020, and its list of supervised institutions as at 2 October 2026 sorts them by exchange control status. Ten banks are authorised dealers, allowed to deal in all currencies within the limits of exchange control notices:
Another 48 public licensees are designated non-resident, which lets them deal with non-residents and freely in foreign currencies; among them are private banks such as Pictet Bank & Trust, Lombard Odier & Cie (Bahamas), EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas) and the Nassau branch of UBS. The 106 restricted licensees may serve no more than five specified persons, so they are not an option for an outside company.
Exchange control still applies in the Bahamas. Central Bank guidance says an international business company wholly owned by non-residents and doing business only with non-residents is deemed non-resident for exchange control purposes, while a company wholly owned by residents is deemed resident. The owners’ immigration status and the activity both count, and the Exchange Control Department confirms a designation on application. Settle the company’s status before the bank asks, because each designation carries its own rules on dealing in local and foreign currency.
The Deposit Insurance Corporation, created by the Protection of Depositors Act 1999 and run by the Central Bank, insures eligible deposits up to 50,000 Bahamian dollars per depositor at each member institution. Companies are covered and residence makes no difference. The limit that matters for an IBC is the currency one: the DIC insures only Bahamian dollar deposits and lists US dollar and other foreign currency deposits as not eligible. Its August 2025 member list names twelve banks, the ten authorised dealers plus Deltec Bank & Trust and the Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company (Bahamas), and none of the 48 non-resident licensees.
Scotiabank (Bahamas) publishes its checklist. For a company it wants a current business licence, the certificate of incorporation, a certificate of good standing once the company is over a year old, the memorandum and articles, a certificate of incumbency under seal, the registers of officers, directors and shareholders and the current annual return stamped by the Registrar General, a board resolution and a business plan. Each signatory, officer, director and shareholder gives two identity documents, a passport or voter’s card plus a driver’s licence or National Insurance card, proof of address and, if not already a customer, a credit reference letter. Originals are preferred, but copies notarised by an attorney are accepted.
The list is written for a Bahamian business, so agree early what a director living abroad can offer instead of the local items. CIBC Caribbean opens business accounts online for sole traders only.
Section 40 of the International Business Companies Act is satisfied by a single director, individual or corporate, living anywhere; sections 37 and 38 require a registered office and a licensed registered agent in the Bahamas at all times. Under the Register of Beneficial Ownership Act 2018, owners at ten per cent or more are held in the registered agent’s database, which only designated officers can search, on behalf of prescribed authorities. The bank therefore collects its own declaration and expects the two to match.
The Central Bank buys US dollars from commercial banks at par with the Bahamian dollar. The Bahamas has no entry in SWIFT’s IBAN Registry and is not in SEPA, and Airwallex does not list it among the registration countries it can onboard.
Our offer page counts the Bahamas among the Caribbean offshore jurisdictions where a shelf company with a live account is not readily available. When an IBC that banks is sold, the account stays in the company’s name and the bank looks again at the new owners, directors and signatories, then keeps the account, asks for more or closes it. The owners’ immigration status also feeds the exchange control designation, so a sale can reopen that question too.
We can provide a ready-made Bahamas IBC or a new one through company formation in the Bahamas, put the checklist papers together with you and, if one of our working bank contacts suits the business, introduce you; the bank makes its own decision. See the Bahamas overview and our page on buying a company that already banks.
Start with the company’s exchange control status, since an IBC owned by non-residents and trading only with non-residents is deemed non-resident. Then choose between the ten authorised dealers and the 48 non-resident licensees on the Central Bank’s list, and prepare the corporate papers a checklist such as Scotiabank’s asks for, with identification, address proof and credit references for each person.
Only its Bahamian dollars. The Deposit Insurance Corporation covers up to 50,000 Bahamian dollars per depositor at each member bank, companies and non-residents included, but excludes US dollar and other foreign currency deposits. None of the 48 non-resident licensees is a member, so balances held with them have no deposit insurance.
An authorised dealer may deal in gold and all currencies within the limits of the Central Bank’s exchange control notices; RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas), Scotiabank (Bahamas) and Commonwealth Bank are examples. A licensee designated non-resident may deal with non-residents and freely in foreign currencies, the status held by private banks such as Pictet and the Nassau branch of UBS.
Not as a rule: our offer page lists most Caribbean offshore jurisdictions, the Bahamas included, as places where a pre-banked shelf company is not readily available. If an IBC already has an account, it stays with the company through the share sale, while the bank re-checks the buyer, directors and signatories and decides whether to keep it, ask for more or close it.