- →
-
Contact Form
-
To open a bank account in Luxembourg for a company, you usually deal with a credit institution supervised under the euro area’s Single Supervisory Mechanism. The CSSF, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, supervises the less significant Luxembourg banks, such as Banque Raiffeisen; the European Central Bank supervises the significant ones. Its list with a 1 July 2026 cut-off names Spuerkeess and Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) as significant Luxembourg banks and places BGL BNP Paribas, ING Luxembourg, Société Générale Luxembourg and Banque de Luxembourg inside significant groups. Payment and e-money institutions are separate: since 30 July 2021 the CSSF alone authorises them, and a company that wants to provide payment services needs its own CSSF licence.
The Fonds de garantie des dépôts Luxembourg (FGDL) protects deposits up to EUR 100,000 per person and per bank. Companies of every size are eligible whatever their registered address; deposits that banks, financial institutions, investment firms and insurers hold for their own account are excluded, as are investment funds. Foreign-currency deposits count but are repaid in euros, within seven working days of the deposits becoming unavailable. The members are the Luxembourg credit institutions, POST Luxembourg for its postal financial services and branches of banks based outside the EEA. Payment and e-money institutions are not members; they must safeguard client funds instead.
In Luxembourg the bank has traditionally come before the company. For a cash contribution the founders pay the capital into a blocked account and obtain a certificat de blocage, which the notary relies on to execute the deed before issuing a release certificate. Guichet.lu, the government portal, says the bank may be in Luxembourg or abroad, though it recommends a Luxembourg one.
The law of 18 May 2026, in force since 2 June 2026, changed this for the Sàrl. Its EUR 12,000 minimum capital must still be fully subscribed at incorporation but may be paid within twelve months, or within any shorter period the articles set. Capital above the minimum, share premium and contributions in kind are still paid at incorporation; votes on shares with overdue called payments are suspended, and unpaid shareholders are listed after the balance sheet. A Sàrl can therefore be incorporated before any bank account exists, though the bank’s checks still follow. The SA is unchanged: EUR 30,000 minimum capital, at least a quarter paid up at incorporation.
On the pages checked, none of these four sets a residence or nationality condition for the owners; they differ on route and identification:
| Provider | Type | Route and identification | What it publishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spuerkeess | Bank, supervised by the ECB | Online request, also for a company being incorporated; opens only after its decision-making bodies approve | RCS and RBE extracts under three months old, an organisation chart down to the individuals, ID copies certified when not from the EU, the origin of funds of beneficial owners and 10% shareholders |
| BGL BNP Paribas | Bank, BNP Paribas group | Online request form for SMEs, but “opening cannot be done remotely: proper identification required” | Draft articles, business plan and ownership chart for a company being set up; articles, register extracts and balance sheets for an existing one |
| BIL | Bank, supervised by the ECB | Contact form, then a relationship manager | Documents set by legal status and business sector |
| POST Finance | POST Luxembourg’s postal financial services, an FGDL member | Physical identification required; applications approved within a month | Current accounts only for firms headquartered in Luxembourg; blocking certificate sent to the notary within 5 to 10 working days of the capital arriving |
The ABBL, the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association, also publishes an SME contact list; its July 2026 edition adds Banque Raiffeisen, HSBC Luxembourg and payment or e-money institutions such as Vivid Money, and is expressly not an endorsement.
The ABBL’s December 2024 guide for commercial companies, drafted with the CSSF consulted, sets out the minimum file, to which a bank may add:
Spuerkeess adds the business permit (autorisation d’établissement) where the activity needs one, any domiciliation agreement, three years of accounts in PDF and XML, and, for a new company, the blocking certificate, VAT number and LEI code.
The law does not require a Sàrl’s shareholders or gérant to live in Luxembourg, and the CSSF’s FAQ on video identification lets a bank identify a company’s representatives and beneficial owners by live video, though only where there is no suspicion, no doubt about the data and no higher risk. Offering that route is bank policy. BGL BNP Paribas says accounts cannot be opened remotely, POST Finance requires physical identification, and the Spuerkeess and BIL pages do not say.
Two legal rules tie the company to Luxembourg. A company domiciled with a third party must use an agent authorised under the law of 31 May 1999, such as a bank, lawyer, auditor or expert-comptable, under a written agreement, and a trading company needs a business permit, which requires a physical establishment in Luxembourg and a manager in effective charge.
Parliament has acknowledged the problem: the justice committee’s report on the 2026 reform says the old rule often forced founders to open a bank account first and could delay incorporation because of the banks’ verification duties, and the Chambre des Métiers called the lack of a bank account a major obstacle.
Accounts are held in euros. A Luxembourg IBAN has 20 characters: LU, two check digits, a three-digit bank code and the account number. Luxembourg is inside SEPA, so euro transfers to the other SEPA countries work as at home, and the FGDL counts foreign-currency deposits towards the EUR 100,000 limit.
A bank account belongs to the company and stays with it when the company changes hands; what changes is that the bank re-runs its due diligence on the new owners, directors and signatories and may keep the account, ask for more documents or close it. Our own offer page lists Luxembourg among the places where pre-banked shelf companies are not readily available, so with a ready-made Luxembourg Sàrl plan for the bank to onboard you as a new client. A new Luxembourg formation can pay the Sàrl capital at once through the blocked account or within twelve months. We can supply either and help prepare the bank application; the decision stays with the bank. See our guide to shelf companies with bank accounts, the pre-banked shelf company page and the Luxembourg hub.
Partly. Company law sets no residence rule for a Sàrl’s owners or gérant, and the CSSF lets banks identify representatives and beneficial owners by live video where the risk is not higher. Bank policy is stricter: BGL BNP Paribas says accounts cannot be opened remotely and POST Finance requires physical identification. Prepare the file from abroad, but expect to be identified in person at least once.
Not necessarily, since 2 June 2026. A Sàrl’s EUR 12,000 minimum capital must still be fully subscribed at incorporation but may be paid within twelve months, so the deed can be signed before any bank account exists. Founders who pay at once, and anyone forming an SA with cash, still use the blocked account and the certificat de blocage.
For a company, the law allows it: a Sàrl’s shareholders and gérant may live anywhere. Each bank decides under its own acceptance policy, weighing the owners’ countries, the origin of funds and the structure, and has no duty to open business accounts. POST Finance offers current accounts only to firms headquartered in Luxembourg, and BGL BNP Paribas requires identification that cannot be done remotely.
Yes. The FGDL covers deposits up to EUR 100,000 per person and per bank for companies of every size and registered address. Deposits that banks, financial institutions, investment firms and insurers hold for their own account are excluded, as are investment funds, and foreign-currency deposits are repaid in euros. Payment and e-money institutions are not FGDL members; they safeguard client money instead.
The core file is the articles, RCS and RBE extracts, which Spuerkeess wants under three months old, a UBO declaration form, an organisation chart, ID for owners, directors and signatories, and a FATCA and CRS self-certification. Add the origin of funds, a business plan for a new company and, where relevant, the business permit, the domiciliation agreement and the blocking certificate.
Yes, if the company itself will provide payment services or issue electronic money. Since 30 July 2021 the CSSF alone grants, refuses and withdraws the authorisations of payment and e-money institutions, a power that used to sit with the Minister of Finance. That licence is separate from opening the company’s business account, which each bank decides under its own acceptance policy.