Australia: corporate bank account opening

Before providing the account service, establish the company's identity, representatives and their authority, beneficial owners and the purpose of the relationship under the current initial-CDD rules. Use the ASIC company extract for registered company particulars; an ABN Lookup entry alone does not provide the same ownership and officeholder information.

Establish owners and authority

Obtain the company's ownership and control structure, including share classes and decision-making rights. Cross-check it against ASIC records, the constitution and member statements as appropriate. Trace a privately owned corporate shareholder through its ownership layers.

AUSTRAC's guidance contains deeming provisions for specified listed companies, government bodies and some low-risk regulated customers. Record the evidence supporting the provision used. A listed shareholder in one part of a structure does not remove checks on a separate private-company shareholder.

Verify the representatives and their authority. A company mandate, agency agreement or independent confirmation of delegation may support authority; retain the document covering the actual account instruction.

Risk and acceptance

Establish PEP and targeted-financial-sanctions status for the relevant parties. Obtain expected receipts, payment countries and initial funding details; seek contracts or loan documents where needed to resolve a funding question. Apply enhanced CDD where required and resolve incomplete verification under the Act and Rules before providing the service.

Keep the account under ongoing CDD. The 2026 transition rules distinguish existing customers from new customers; do not treat every pre-31 March account as requiring a fresh opening review solely because the framework changed.