A bank account for your Jersey company, run from another country

Every Jersey bank works under the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 and the regulator's AML/CFT/CPF Handbook. Article 15 of the Order lists situations where the bank "must apply enhanced customer due diligence measures on a risk-sensitive basis". The first is a customer from a country where the bank isn't resident. The Handbook adds, fairly, that such customers "will typically have legitimate reasons". Pick what describes you to see which triggers apply.

Enhanced checks mostly mean more questions, asked earlier: why bank in Jersey rather than at home, where the first funds came from, and what the company will do month to month. If the bank can't complete its checks, Article 14 says it must not open the account at all, so every unanswered question is a real risk.

Jersey is stricter about remote identity than most places a founder deals with. Onboarding by video call, mail or telephone requires enhanced checks (Handbook 4.3.5), and holding a passport up to a camera isn't evidence of anything.

So a video meeting with the bank is still common, but as a conversation. Identity comes from the app or the certified papers. Using an app is not reliance on anyone else, the Handbook adds, so the bank answers for the tool it picks.

Nineteen banks were registered for deposit taking in Jersey at the end of 2025, down from 28 in 2017, according to the regulator's quarterly figures. Many are branches of private banks. For a trading company, the question is which door to knock on.

Santander's online corporate enquiry form asks for the expected initial deposit in three bands: under 75,000, 75,000 to 500,000 and over 500,000. The page doesn't call these minimums, and no Jersey bank we read publishes a minimum balance for a company owned from abroad.

Your Jersey company is administered by a trust company business regulated by the JFSC. The Handbook lets a bank rely on that firm's identity work instead of repeating it, under Article 16 of the Order and six conditions: the firm agrees, gives written assurances, sends the information immediately, hands over the evidence on request, and the bank writes down its own risk assessment first.

Reliance stops where the bank rates the case higher risk, and there is no chain: the bank can't rely on a firm that is itself relying on someone else. In practice, that is why a direct relationship with a Jersey provider counts for more than an introduction passed through several hands.

Your file, for your structure

Banks see the private beneficial owner record too: since February 2025 they may search the obliged entity register by exact company name or number, for due diligence only. The Handbook treats 25% as a general guide for a controlling interest in lower risk cases, and lower where control is uneven.

Jersey's depositor compensation now sits in Part 7A of the Bank (Recovery, Resolution and Depositors' Compensation) (Jersey) Law 2017. Article 142E lists who counts as an eligible depositor: people saving for themselves or a child, executors of an estate, registered Jersey charities and one named savings body. A company is not on that list. Pick the account holder to see what the scheme would pay.

Three points from the Government of Jersey's March 2026 update and the banks' own notices. The £100 million cap on payouts in any five years was removed on 1 April 2026, and a review of the scheme's scope and its £50,000 limit expects a decision in 2027. Jersey branches of UK banks sit in the Jersey scheme, not the UK's: Santander International and HSBC Expat both say their Jersey deposits are outside the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme. And where the law groups banks together, they count as one bank.

One option worth knowing: Santander International says accounts booked with Santander Financial Services plc in its London centre fall under the UK scheme, which does cover companies, up to £120,000.

• Checks that can't be finishedA missing source of funds or an owner who won't be identified ends it: the bank must not open the account (Order, Article 14).
• The wrong productResidents' business accounts reject owners abroad, nominees and holding structures by design.
• A higher risk introductionThe bank won't rely on the introducer and asks for everything again, which slows the file and loses some applicants.
• A sensitive activityThe Sound Business Policy names five: controversial defence, unlicensed pharmaceuticals, dual use goods, unlisted mining or drilling, and financial services sold where they aren't regulated.
• Weak reasons for JerseyBanks are told to understand why a non-resident banks on the island; a reason nobody can explain raises the score.

The regulator is watching how banks say no. In a June 2026 letter to bank chiefs, the JFSC said it expects decisions on opening, declining and closing accounts to be "fair and transparent", and it noted inconsistencies in how closures were explained.

Crypto. Since its April 2026 revision, the Sound Business Policy no longer lists virtual assets as a sensitive activity. That moves the question to each bank's own appetite, and no Jersey bank we read publishes a crypto policy for business clients. Expect to show exchange statements for every conversion and a clear line from coins to customers. Providing crypto services to others is a separate, registered business; the crypto section of our Jersey company page covers when that applies.

Payment accounts. An e-money account gives the company account details and cards quickly while the bank reviews. Wise decides business eligibility at sign-up, lists Jersey among the places you can hold money, and has temporarily restricted new business registrations involved in cryptocurrency. E-money is safeguarded rather than deposited; for a company that changes little in Jersey, since its bank deposits aren't covered either.

London. Some Jersey providers also bank from London, where the UK scheme covers companies. No UK or EU bank page we read says it accepts Jersey companies owned from abroad, so treat it as a conversation, not a form.

Jersey reports financial accounts under the Common Reporting Standard by 30 June each year, and under FATCA to the United States. The updated standard, often called CRS 2.0, applies from 1 January 2026. When you open the account you sign a form stating the company's tax residence and, if it is a passive company, the people who control it.

Where do you live? pick it

The account setup comes inside our price: £2,930 in year one and £2,870 a year after, with the registry fee, registered office, company secretary and nominated person included. It almost always goes through. When one bank declines, we go to another whose clients look like your business. If you want a nominee director and shareholder, they are £840 a year plus VAT, and the bank still knows who you are. The full offer is on our Jersey company page; yearly filings are in Jersey annual fees and tax in the Jersey tax guide.