Opening a Montenegrin Bank Account. Service offer

Basic bank fees:

• Account opening fee charged by the bank – from EUR 1 500 to EUR 3 500 (depending on where a company is incorporated)
• Incoming payment fee – 0.1% of any amount
• Outgoing payment fee – 0.5% of any amount
• Currency conversion fee – 1.5%
• Account maintenance fee – EUR 35 per month
• Activation of Internet banking – EUR 6 (one-time)
• Internet banking – EUR 4 per month

At this stage, a set of documents is sent to the bank in electronic form, together with accompanying information about the company’s activities, economic results, and the proposed business structuring.

Corporate documents (standard list)*:

1. Certificate of Incorporation;
2. Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&AA);
3. Proof of the company’s active status (Certificate of Good Standing) – not older than 3 months;
4. Proof of the company’s structure (Certificate of Incumbency, extract from the public register, etc.) – not older than 3 months.

If the structure includes other legal entities, a similar list of documents is requested for them.

* The list of documents is not exhaustive. The bank is not associated with us in any way and has the right to request any other documents and information. Depending on the jurisdiction of the company, the list of documents may differ from the one given above. Please contact a Consultant at GSL Law&Consulting for details.

Company’s business profile:

1. KYC questionnaire, including a detailed description of the company’s activities, account currencies, structure of activity, the company’s economic results and expected incoming / outgoing payments;
2. Agreements with potential counteragents and invoices under such agreements;
3. Bank statements for the last 3 – 6 months.

Documents for individuals in the structure:

1. Copy of passport;
2. Copy of proof of residential address (bank statement or utility bill not older than 2 months).

Based on the information provided and scanned copies of documents, we put together and submit an application to the bank for pre-approval.

The time for obtaining pre-approval is 1 – 3 weeks on average (depending on the complexity of the case), during which time the bank may request additional information/documents.

Based on the information received at the pre-approval stage, we make a list of documents to be apostilled for account opening. The bank does not accept bound sets of documents; it requires each document to be apostilled separately (!), and the apostille must not be older than 3 months at the time when the documents are submitted.

Bank forms must be signed at this stage as well. All forms are signed by the director of the company; in the case of remote account opening, three forms must be notarized and apostilled:

• Verified signature form;
• Statement for non-using of stamp – if a company does not use a seal;
• Power of Attorney.

A complete set of original documents must be sent to the bank and translated into Serbo-Croatian. The translation is done in Montenegro by a translator licensed under Montenegrin law. The cost of translation is from EUR 375 and it is paid to the bank directly along with the account opening fee (+5% VAT as the invoice is issued on behalf of the bank’s Dubai branch).

After all documents are delivered to the bank in Montenegro, the application moves to the final stage. The account opening time (after the bank receives all documents) is about 7 working days.

[1] The fees are valid at June 2024.

[2] To order apostilled documents that are issued by government authorities, please contact a Consultant at GSL Law&Consulting