Austria corporate banking options in 2024

Healy Consultants’ corporate banking team will expertly handle corporate bank account opening in Austria for our Clients. We will prepare all the necessary documents and submit to the bank on behalf of the Client, and if needed, we also attend the bank account opening interview on your behalf.

Austria banking

• Banks in Austria include Standard Chartered Bank, Bank Austria, Erste Bank, Sberbank and BAWAG PSK;
• Since the 2000s, Austrian banks have expanded dynamically to Eastern and South Eastern European countries including Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia and Turkey. As a result, they will often have a good knowledge of these markets and will lend at easier conditions to business projects focused on Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Healy Consultants banking services

• To support Austria company formation, Healy Consultants will assist our Clients with accessing a full range of tailored corporate banking facilities comprising of i) single and multiple currency accounts ii) telephone banking iii) internet banking iv) savings and checking accounts v) debit and credit cards and vi) wealth management services;
• To receive the best online banking and customer service to facilitate Austria business formation, Healy Consultants recommends using services of the major banks recognized internationally such as HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank for major corporate bank account solutions;
• If our Client is not comfortable with an Austria corporate bank account, Healy Consultants can open an international corporate bank account outside of Austria. Examples include London, New York, Germany, Bulgaria, South Africa, Australia, or Dubai. Our fee for this service is €4,950 without travel or €3,950 with travel. All banks will be top tier banks in these countries with excellent internet banking services.

Opening a corporate bank account in Austria

• Healy Consultants will first register the Client’s company with the Economic Chamber and then obtain the certificate of incorporation required to convert the provisional account (to be used only for the deposit of the share capital) into a permanent one;
• The documents required to open a corporate bank account in Austria are i) certificate of incorporation not older than 3 months certified by a notary public and apostilled in accordance with the Hague Legalization Convention and trading license either in English/German or a certified translation thereof ii) Memorandum and Articles of Association iii) proof of appointment of directors certified by a notary public and apostilled iv) power of attorney unlimited in time certified by a notary public and apostilled v) due diligence for all the signatories to the account and vi) proof of registered address of the company in Austria;
• There is a small probability that the Client will be obliged to travel to meet the bank directors in order to open the account. Healy Consultants, however, does everything necessary to negotiate with the bank for a travel exemption. If our Client must travel to Austria for corporate bank account opening, Healy Consultants will refund our Client €950;
• After the approval of the corporate bank account, the preferred bank will promptly send by post or email our Client the corporate bank account details and correspondence.

Foreign exchange controls and other important regulations

• The National Bank of Austria is the governing authority for all banking and financial institutions in Austria and is in charge of foreign currency exchange rates. There are no exchange controls or restrictions on remittances in Austria;
• Austria’s banking secrecy has been weakened by the implementation of the Administrative Assistance Act which allows a wider exchange of Austrian bank account information with foreign governments. However a set of conditions must be met prior to the release of this information, including i) proof of foreseeable relevance which includes tax evasion or fiscal criminal matters as well as proof of having exhausted all other means of obtaining this information before applying to Austrian Authorities ii) application to Austrian Authorities only and never directly to the concerned banks and iii) Clients must be informed of any request of information by the banks concerned and will have 2 weeks to appeal this request.