You live in New York, London or Dubai and you are setting up a French company, usually a SAS (societe par actions simplifiee, the simplified joint-stock company foreign founders choose most often) or a SARL (societe a responsabilite limitee, the limited liability company). The articles of association, called the statuts, are ready. Then the process stalls on the same obstacle almost every non-resident founder meets: the bank will not open the account. The branch asks for a French proof of address you do not have, the online onboarding rejects your foreign passport, or the advisor tells you the file of a company whose director lives abroad will never pass compliance. Without that account you cannot deposit the share capital, and without the deposit certificate you cannot register the company and obtain the Kbis, which is the official excerpt from the RCS (registre du commerce et des societes, the trade and companies register) that proves your company exists. This article explains the two tracks that get you out of this deadlock: first, how to deposit the capital and secure the blocked-funds certificate even from abroad, and second, how to force a bank to open your company’s account through the droit au compte, the statutory right to an account enforced by the Banque de France, the French central bank. Each step is backed by the exact legal text and by court decisions that show what judges do when banks refuse and when shareholders cannot prove they paid.

I. How do you deposit the share capital and unlock the blocked-funds certificate from abroad?

A. Where and how do you deposit the cash contributions when you live outside France?

French company law sets the amount of the share capital in the statuts. The official business guidance confirms that the starting amount of a SAS or SASU (the one-person SAS) is freely set in the articles and can be as low as 1 euro, although a token capital weakens credibility with banks and suppliers (service-public guidance on forming and depositing the share capital). The same freedom applies to the SARL and the EURL (the one-person SARL). The statute itself states the principle in general terms: “La forme, la durée qui ne peut excéder quatre-vingt-dix-neuf ans, la dénomination sociale, le siège social, l’objet social et le montant du capital social sont déterminés par les statuts de la société” (article L210-2 of the Commercial Code). In practice, foreign founders who want a bank to take them seriously set a capital between 1,000 and 10,000 euros. A 1-euro company whose director lives abroad will find every later step harder, from the account opening to the first lease.

You do not have to pay the full amount on day one. For a SAS, the initial payment must be at least 50 percent of the amount stated in the articles, and the balance must be paid within five years after registration. For a SARL, the law requires that cash shares be paid up for at least one fifth of their amount, with the surplus released over no more than five years from registration: “Les parts représentant des apports en numéraire doivent être libérées d’au moins un cinquième de leur montant. La libération du surplus intervient en une ou plusieurs fois sur décision du gérant, dans un délai qui ne peut excéder cinq ans à compter de l’immatriculation de la société au registre du commerce et des sociétés” (article L223-7 of the Commercial Code). The SAS follows the same five-year logic through the rules applicable to it: “Une société par actions simplifiée peut être instituée par une ou plusieurs personnes qui ne supportent les pertes qu’à concurrence de leur apport” (article L227-1 of the Commercial Code). Founders living abroad often choose to pay the whole capital immediately so that no later call for funds has to cross borders, but the law leaves the choice open.

The deposit itself must go to an authorised depositary: a bank (etablissement de credit) or a notary (notaire). The official service-public guidance states that the deposit of the share capital in a bank account is a mandatory step to register a commercial company, that the funds sit in a blocked account, and that they become available once the company is registered. The guidance also warns that the deposit cannot be made with a payment institution, which is an entity that provides payment services but cannot grant overdrafts or loans, and that since 1 June 2021 the Caisse des depots no longer accepts these deposits (service-public.fr, Constituer et deposer le capital social d’une societe). When the company has several shareholders, each of them hands the funds directly to the depositary. For a founder wiring money from a US or UK account, the notary route is often the practical answer: French notaries accept foreign wire transfers for capital deposits, issue the certificate, and do not apply the onboarding policy of a retail bank. If you prefer a bank, ask in advance for its “foreign founder” or “non-resident company formation” desk and for the exact wording it requires on the wire reference, because the wording will matter later as evidence.

Two traps already threaten the deposit at this stage. First, never let an intermediary hold the money. The statute provides that, apart from the authorised depositaries, no one may keep funds collected for a company in formation for more than eight days: “A l’exception des dépositaires visés par le décret prévu à l’alinéa précédent, nul ne peut détenir plus de huit jours les sommes recueillies pour le compte d’une société en formation” (article L225-5 of the Commercial Code). A consultant, a domiciliation agent or a well-meaning partner who keeps your capital for weeks breaks this rule. Second, label every transfer with the words “liberation du capital” plus the company name in formation and the shareholder’s name. A bare transfer from your personal account to the company’s future account proves nothing about capital, as a 2026 court decision shows in detail below. If your project involves several vehicles and you hesitate between a SAS, a SARL, a branch or a subsidiary, read our pillar guide first (choosing between a SAS, a SARL, a branch and a subsidiary from abroad), because the vehicle determines who deposits, who certifies and who answers later calls for funds.

B. How do you release the blocked funds with the Kbis once the company is registered?

The depositary issues an attestation de depot des fonds, the blocked-funds certificate, which lists the subscribers and the sums paid by each. This certificate is one of the documents filed with the Guichet unique, the single online business formalities portal, to apply for registration. Once the company is registered, the greffe, which is the clerk’s office of the commercial court keeping the RCS, issues the Kbis excerpt for the company. Only then can the blocked money move. The statute is categorical: “Le retrait des fonds provenant des souscriptions en numéraire ne peut être effectué par le mandataire de la société avant l’immatriculation de celle-ci au registre du commerce et des sociétés” (article L225-11 of the Commercial Code). This is why the depositary keeps the funds even if you send urgent instructions from abroad: the law forbids any release before registration, and the registration date is the date the company acquires legal personality: “Les sociétés commerciales jouissent de la personnalité morale à dater de leur immatriculation au registre du commerce et des sociétés” (article L210-6 of the Commercial Code). Present the Kbis, or more precisely the justificatif d’immatriculation (the RCS excerpt, i.e. the Kbis, or the RNE extract, RNE being the registre national des entreprises, the national enterprise register), to the depositary, and the funds are transferred to a current account opened in the company’s name.

From abroad, organise the release before you need the money. Give the depositary a written instruction, signed by the legal representative (representant legal, the person designated by law or by the articles to act for the company), designating the target operating account by its IBAN, and keep proof of dispatch. If the depositary is a notary, the release is usually a simple transfer order once the Kbis arrives by email. If it is a bank where you also applied for the operating account, the release and the account opening often happen in the same appointment, which is another reason to centralise both steps in one establishment when possible. Founders based in Paris and the Ile-de-France region follow the same national procedure, since registration runs through the Guichet unique regardless of the city, but the competent greffe is the one of the registered office: a company seated in Paris is registered with the greffe of the Paris commercial court, and Parisian banks process a high volume of non-resident files, so asking for the advisor who handles international company formations shortens the delays in practice.

If the company is never formed, the law gives subscribers a way out. When the company has not been formed or registered within six months from the first deposit, any subscriber can ask the court to appoint an agent to withdraw the funds and return them to the subscribers, minus distribution costs: “Si la société n’est pas constituée dans le délai de six mois à compter du premier dépôt de fonds ou si elle n’est pas immatriculée au registre du commerce et des sociétés dans le même délai, tout souscripteur peut demander en justice la nomination d’un mandataire chargé de retirer les fonds pour les restituer aux souscripteurs, sous déduction des frais de répartition” (article L225-11 of the Commercial Code). This six-month safety net matters for founders whose project stalls because the bank account never opens: your capital is not lost, but you must act through the court, which takes time from abroad.

The certificate protects you only for what it states. In a judgment of 4 May 2026, the commercial court of Castres ordered a shareholder to pay 12,000 euros to the liquidator for the unreleased part of the capital, holding that the deposit certificate proved payments by three shareholders but not by her: “Le certificat de dépôt de fonds délivré le 26 avril 2019 par la société générale atteste de versements pour partie de la libération du capital en numéraire par les trois actionnaires Messieurs [P] [U], [L] et [Q], mais pas de versement par Madame [O] [R].” The court added that her later transfers to the company, labelled “pour HBO” or “interne”, did not prove capital payment, since those labels did not show the sums were allocated to the release of the capital, and it ordered: “CONDAMNE Madame [O] [R] à payer à Maître [Y] [J] en sa qualité de mandataire liquidateur de la société HABITAT BOIS OCCITANIE la somme de 12 000 euros” (Tribunal de commerce de Castres, 4 May 2026, No. 2025000661). The legal basis recalled by the court is worth memorising: “Chaque associé est débiteur envers la société de tout ce qu’il a promis de lui apporter en nature, en numéraire ou en industrie” (article 1843-3 of the Civil Code), and once insolvency proceedings open, “Le jugement d’ouverture rend immédiatement exigible le montant non libéré du capital social” (article L624-20 of the Commercial Code). In plain terms: pay the capital through the depositary, keep the certificate, label every later transfer, and never confuse a shareholder loan with a capital payment. On that last distinction, see our analysis of advances from abroad (shareholder loans, interest caps and repayment from abroad).

II. What can you do when the bank refuses to open your French company’s account?

A. How does the Banque de France designation force a bank to open the account?

A bank in France may refuse to open an account: no statute obliges a bank to accept every applicant. What the law does instead is give the refused applicant a second path that ends with a bank designated by the Banque de France and obliged to open the account. The right covers any natural or legal person domiciled in France who has no such account: the statute opens the mechanism to “Toute personne physique ou morale domiciliée en France” and allows a person refused by the bank of its choice to apply to the Banque de France so that it designates a credit institution near its domicile or another place of its choice, within one business day from receipt of the required documents: “En cas de refus de la part de l’établissement choisi d’ouvrir un tel compte à l’une des personnes mentionnées au I, celle-ci peut saisir la Banque de France afin qu’elle lui désigne un établissement de crédit situé à proximité de son domicile ou d’un autre lieu de son choix, en prenant en considération les parts de marché de chaque établissement concerné, dans un délai d’un jour ouvré à compter de la réception des pièces requises définies par arrêté” (article L312-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code). A French company with its registered office (siege social) in France qualifies as a person domiciled in France, and the official business guidance confirms that the procedure applies to professional accounts: after a refusal, the Banque de France designates a bank that must open a professional account in the company’s name, with access to the basic services guaranteed by law (service-public.fr, Compte bancaire professionnel d’une societe).

The practical sequence has five steps, and each one must be documented because a missing paper restarts the clock. First, apply for the account in writing, ideally by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, and keep the receipt or the counter slip. The Banque de France states that a bank may refuse but must then hand over a standard refusal certificate, the attestation de refus d’ouverture de compte, and that silence for 15 days counts as a refusal (Banque de France, Droit au compte bancaire). From abroad, send the registered letter even if you already received an oral refusal at a branch: the paper trail is what the file requires. Second, collect the refusal certificate or prove the 15-day silence with your sent letter and its tracking. Third, file the droit au compte application with the Banque de France, enclosing identification of the legal representative, proof of the company’s existence or formation (draft articles, capital deposit certificate, proof of filing with the Guichet unique), and the refusal evidence. Fourth, the Banque de France designates a bank, normally within one business day of receiving a complete file. Fifth, contact the designated bank with the designation letter and the full know-your-customer file: passport of the director, proof of address abroad with translation if needed, articles, list of beneficial owners (beneficiaires effectifs, the natural persons who ultimately own or control the company, declared in the RBE register), and the capital deposit certificate. Our guide to that declaration explains what to file and when (declaring beneficial owners from abroad).

The designated bank cannot treat the designation as optional. In a judgment confirmed on appeal on 21 December 2023, the Versailles Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of a bank designated by the Banque de France that had failed to open the account: “Le tribunal a retenu que le Crédit Agricole désigné par la Banque de France pour ouvrir un compte au nom M [E] avait commis une faute en n’y procédant pas dans les trois jours ouvrés à compter de la réception des justificatifs fournis par ce dernier alors qu’il disposait de l’ensemble des pièces nécessaires à l’ouverture d’un compte de dépôt en ses livres au nom de M [E]”, and the court closed with “CONFIRME le jugement déféré en toutes ses dispositions” (Cour d’appel de Versailles, 21 December 2023, No. 22/05426). The first court had ordered the opening under a penalty (astreinte, a daily fine for each day of delay) and awarded 2,000 euros in damages for the harm caused by the refusal. That case concerned an individual account, but the enforcement logic is the same for companies: designation creates an obligation, delay without a legitimate reason is a fault, and the judge can order opening under penalty plus damages. Note the court’s emphasis on the file being complete: the three-business-day count ran from receipt of all supporting documents, so an incomplete KYC file from a non-resident director remains the bank’s easiest lawful reason to wait.

The account obtained through this path carries the basic services defined by decree: “Les prestations de base mentionnées au II de l’article L. 312-1 comprennent : 1° L’ouverture, la tenue et la clôture du compte ; 2° Un changement d’adresse par an ; 3° La délivrance à la demande de relevés d’identité bancaire ; 4° La domiciliation de virements bancaires ; 5° La fourniture mensuelle d’un relevé des opérations effectuées sur le compte ; 6° L’encaissement de chèques et de virements bancaires ; 7° Les paiements par prélèvements SEPA, titre interbancaire de paiement SEPA ou par virement bancaire SEPA, ce dernier pouvant être réalisé aux guichets ou à distance ; 8° Des moyens de consultation à distance du solde du compte ; 9° Les dépôts et les retraits d’espèces au guichet ou aux distributeurs automatiques de l’organisme teneur de compte ; 10° Une carte de paiement permettant notamment le paiement d’opérations sur internet et le retrait d’espèces dans l’Union européenne” (article D312-5 of the Monetary and Financial Code). SEPA means the Single Euro Payments Area, the system for euro transfers and direct debits across Europe. For a newly formed company, these services cover the essentials: receiving the released capital, paying suppliers, collecting revenue and consulting the balance online from abroad. One exclusion matters for founders in difficulty: the Banque de France notes that a legal representative subject to a management ban (interdiction de gerer, a court order prohibiting a person from directing a company) cannot use the procedure for a legal entity. If a former venture ended with such a sanction, resolve that point before filing anything in the new company’s name.

B. Which mistakes turn a refusal into a frozen company, and how do you prove every payment?

The first mistake is stopping at the first refusal. Founders living abroad often interpret one “no” as a verdict on their whole project and either abandon the formation or route money through personal accounts. Both reactions create larger problems. An abandoned capital deposit sits blocked for six months before a court can release it, as article L225-11 provides, and money routed through a personal account looks like a personal asset in any later dispute, while the capital remains legally unpaid with the consequences the Castres judgment illustrated: a liquidator calling the unpaid part years later under article L624-20. The correct reflex after a refusal is administrative, not emotional: request the written refusal certificate on the spot, note the date, and start the Banque de France file the same week. Parallel applications to two or three banks are lawful and often resolve the issue faster than the designation itself, since banks answer a well-documented foreign file better than a bare counter request.

The second mistake is signing commitments for a company that does not legally exist yet. Before registration, the company has no legal personality, and anyone who acts in its name is personally and jointly liable for those acts unless the company, once registered, takes over the commitments: “Les personnes qui ont agi au nom d’une société en formation avant qu’elle ait acquis la jouissance de la personnalité morale sont tenues solidairement et indéfiniment responsables des actes ainsi accomplis, à moins que la société, après avoir été régulièrement constituée et immatriculée, ne reprenne les engagements souscrits. Ces engagements sont alors réputés avoir été souscrits dès l’origine par la société” (article L210-6 of the Commercial Code). From abroad, the temptation is strong: sign the Paris office lease now, order stock now, hire now, and regularise later. Every such signature binds you personally if the takeover never happens, for example because the account refusal delayed registration and the lease started anyway. List each pre-registration commitment in an annex to the articles so the takeover covers them, and date nothing as signed “by the company” before the Kbis exists. Acts that must be published or filed cannot be held against third parties or public authorities until the registration formality is done: “La personne assujettie à immatriculation ne peut, dans l’exercice de son activité, opposer ni aux tiers ni aux administrations publiques, qui peuvent toutefois s’en prévaloir, les faits et actes sujets à mention que si ces derniers ont été publiés au registre” (article L123-9 of the Commercial Code), which is another reason to complete registration before trading.

The third mistake is undocumented money. The Castres case is the cautionary tale: 32,360 euros actually transferred to the company, yet treated as unproven for capital purposes because no wire label allocated the sums to the release of the capital. Build an evidence reflex from the first euro: every transfer carries the reference “liberation du capital”, the company name in formation, the shareholder’s name and the date; the depositary’s certificate is scanned and stored with the articles; later calls for funds are decided in writing by the manager and paid with the same references; shareholder loans use a separate loan agreement and separate references so they can never be confused with capital. Keep the refusal letters, the Banque de France designation, the Kbis and the release instruction in the same file: if a bank later closes the account, if a partner disputes a payment, or if a liquidator calls the capital, that file is your defence. Finally, calendar the five-year deadline for the balance of the capital and the annual legal calendar of the company, from the approval of the accounts to tax filings, so the company you fought to create does not fall into non-compliance in its first year (see our guide to the yearly obligations, the annual legal calendar from abroad).

Conclusion

A bank refusal is a procedural incident, not the end of your French project. Deposit the capital with a bank or a notary, obtain a certificate that names each subscriber and each sum, register through the Guichet unique, and release the funds against the Kbis. If a bank refuses the operating account, demand the written refusal certificate, file for the droit au compte with the Banque de France, and hold the designated bank to its obligation to open the account with basic services. Label every transfer, keep every letter, take over pre-registration commitments in the articles, and calendar the five-year balance of the capital. Companies are registered every week in France by directors who live on another continent: the ones who succeed are not those who never meet a refusal, but those whose file answers each refusal with a dated document.