South Korea: corporate bank account opening
Corporate identity, ownership and account-purpose checks under South Korea's customer due-diligence framework.
South Korea · Banks · KoFIU / FSC
Corporate customers, including overseas companies · Account opening: AML/CDD review
By Matthew Lee
Logo: Supreme Court of Korea
KoFIU lists corporate name, business type, head-office and business-site addresses, contact details and representative information among the customer-identification particulars. For a foreign corporation, establish its nationality and Korean office information as applicable. The Korean registry guide explains corporate registration certificates and business registration records.
Apply the ownership sequence
Identify individuals holding at least 25% of the company. If that does not identify a beneficial owner, follow the prescribed checks for the largest shareholder, appointment rights or other effective control; use the representative fallback only after the preceding steps fail. Obtain the company's shareholder list and documents supporting indirect holdings.
Verify the applicant's identity and authority. Request the account-opening resolution, power of attorney or other corporate authorisation that names the person acting for the company.
Funding and acceptance
Record the account purpose and anticipated activity. For higher-risk relationships, KoFIU's framework requires enhanced information, including transaction purpose and source of funds. If the company proposes to receive investment money, request the subscription or loan documents and the expected remitter's details.
Resolve relevant sanctions and PEP findings and retain the risk decision. Where the required CDD cannot be completed, refuse the new relationship or terminate an existing one as applicable and consider suspicious-transaction reporting.
After opening, revisit customer information when ownership, representatives or transaction patterns change, and investigate activity inconsistent with the recorded business.