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The account holder in Norway is an aksjeselskap (AS) entered in the Register of Business Enterprises at the Brønnøysund Register Centre. Banks are supervised by Finanstilsynet. Norway belongs to the EEA without being an EU member, and Bankenes sikringsfond covers NOK 2 million per depositor per bank, more than the EUR 100,000 deposit limit in the EU. Most businesses are covered, public authorities and financial undertakings are not, and an AS and its owner are each covered separately up to NOK 2 million. Foreign-currency deposits count as well as kroner. Several banks in Norway are branches of Nordic groups, Nordea, Danske Bank and Handelsbanken among them: their home country’s scheme pays first and the Norwegian fund tops them up to NOK 2 million as branch members. Accounts are in kroner, Norwegian IBANs carry the NO prefix and 15 characters, and the EEA link brings Norway into SEPA.
An AS needs share capital of at least NOK 30,000 (Companies Act, section 3-1), paid in full before the company is notified to the register, which must happen within three months of signing the memorandum. Section 2-18 names who may confirm the payment: an auditor, or, where everything is paid in cash, a financial institution in Norway or another EEA state, a lawyer or a state-authorised accountant. The capital account can therefore be held elsewhere in the EEA. At DNB, an account for a company still being registered may open before due diligence is complete, but stays blocked for anything except paying in the share capital.
Section 6-11 of the Companies Act requires the general manager and at least half the board to live in Norway, another EEA state, the United Kingdom or Switzerland; shareholders can live anywhere. Identification is harder: DNB’s digital onboarding runs on BankID, which it uses to verify the applicant and his or her role in the company, and BankID is obtained by visiting a bank with your passport. The Tax Administration gives a foreign board member of a Norwegian company as an example of someone who may need a D-number, the identity number for people without a national identity number. It cannot be applied for personally: a bank may request it for a business relationship, and the Brønnøysund Register Centre requests it when registering someone in the Register of Business Enterprises. The requester usually asks for a certified passport copy and may send you to the Tax Administration for an identity check in person. A D-number turns inactive after five years and may then need reactivating.
For an existing AS, DNB asks for:
The fastest route is DNB’s online application with BankID, after which the bank telephones you. Without BankID there is a web form, but the version linked from DNB’s AS page asks for an 11-digit Norwegian identity number for the contact person and for every online banking user. The same form lets a company that invoices abroad request a currency account (valutakonto) alongside its kroner account.
A ready-made AS may already have an account. The account is held by the AS itself, so a share sale leaves it in place, but the bank re-examines the buyer, the new board and the signatories before deciding whether it continues, needs more paperwork or is terminated; at DNB that review starts with the signed purchase contract and an updated firmaattest. The register of beneficial owners at Brønnøysund, with a duty to register since 31 July 2025, must show the new owners too; it is not public, but banks draw on it for their checks. Current stock is on our page of ready-made shelf companies in Norway.
Our team can supply a ready-made AS or carry out company formation in Norway from scratch, assemble the aksjeeierbok, firmaattest and beneficial owner filing a bank will ask for, prepare the certified passport copies a D-number request needs, and, where an existing banking contact of ours is a good match, put you in touch. The account decision rests entirely with the bank. The Norway hub covers tax and governance; our overview of shelf companies with bank accounts covers buying a company that already banks.
Yes. Norwegian law lets an AS be run from abroad, provided the general manager and half the board live in Norway, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland. Identification is the practical hurdle: DNB’s online route needs BankID, which a bank issues against your passport, and a board member without a Norwegian identity number is likely to need a D-number, requested by a bank or by the Brønnøysund Register Centre.
Usually, if you have no Norwegian national identity number. The Tax Administration lists a board position in a Norwegian company and the need to open a bank account among the reasons a D-number is issued, and DNB’s form for applicants without BankID asks for an 11-digit Norwegian identity number for each online banking user.
No. Section 2-18 of the Companies Act lets a financial institution in Norway or any other EEA state confirm a cash payment, as can a lawyer, a state-authorised accountant or an auditor. The minimum is NOK 30,000, paid in full before the company is notified to the register.
Up to NOK 2 million per depositor per bank, with the AS covered separately from its owner, and foreign-currency balances count. Public authorities and financial undertakings are excluded. At a Norwegian branch of a Nordic bank, such as Nordea or Handelsbanken, the home country’s scheme pays first and the Norwegian fund tops the cover up to NOK 2 million.