You live in London, New York, Dubai or Singapore. You have just signed the articles of your French SAS (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e, the flexible joint-stock company most foreign founders choose) or your French SARL (soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e, the limited liability company with parts sociales instead of shares). The next step looks simple: open a company bank account in France, pay in the share capital, get the certificate, and register the company. Then the bank answers that it cannot open the account, or it takes weeks to decide, or it closes the account one year later without a clear explanation. Your capital is stuck, your registration is delayed, and your suppliers cannot be paid. This article explains the full path, from the capital deposit to the remedies against a refusal or a closure, with the exact legal texts you can rely on while living abroad.<\/p>\n
French law distinguishes two moments. First, the formation stage: the bank holds your capital on a provisional account and issues a certificate of deposit of funds (certificat de d\u00e9p\u00f4t des fonds), which the registration file requires. Second, the operating stage: the company needs a running account for payroll, VAT (value added tax) and suppliers, and the bank may refuse to open it or later close it. Each stage has its own rules, its own documents, and its own remedies. Part I describes how to open and fund the account from abroad. Part II explains what to do when the bank says no or shuts the account down, and how to challenge that decision without flying to Paris every week.<\/p>\n
When you form a French company with cash contributions, the money must be deposited before registration and stays blocked until the company is registered. For a SARL, article L223-7 of the Commercial Code<\/a> states that “Les parts sociales doivent \u00eatre souscrites en totalit\u00e9 par les associ\u00e9s.” Where the contributions are cash, the same article provides that “Les parts repr\u00e9sentant des apports en num\u00e9raire doivent \u00eatre lib\u00e9r\u00e9es d’au moins un cinqui\u00e8me de leur montant.” In practice this means that each cash share must be paid up immediately for at least one fifth of its nominal amount, and the balance within five years following registration. The article adds that “Les fonds provenant de la lib\u00e9ration des parts sociales sont d\u00e9pos\u00e9s dans les conditions et d\u00e9lais d\u00e9termin\u00e9s par d\u00e9cret en Conseil d’Etat.” For companies with shares, article L225-5 of the Commercial Code<\/a> provides that “Les fonds provenant des souscriptions en num\u00e9raire et la liste des souscripteurs avec l’indication des sommes vers\u00e9es par chacun d’eux font l’objet d’un d\u00e9p\u00f4t dans les conditions d\u00e9termin\u00e9es par d\u00e9cret en Conseil d’Etat”. The SAS follows the rules for joint-stock companies to the extent they are compatible with its own chapter, since article L227-1 of the Commercial Code<\/a> recalls that “Une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e peut \u00eatre institu\u00e9e par une ou plusieurs personnes qui ne supportent les pertes qu’\u00e0 concurrence de leur apport.”<\/p>\n The official company-creation portal describes the concrete sequence for a founder. Once the file is assembled, the bank opens an account in the name of the company in formation. According to the official service-public guide on the professional bank account of a company<\/a>, this account is provisional: it allows the deposit of the share capital, in return for which the bank issues a certificate of deposit of funds to be attached to the registration file. After registration, proof of registration must be sent to the bank to unblock the funds and finalize the opening of the professional account. Three French terms matter here. The Kbis is the official identity certificate of the company, an extract from the trade register. The greffe is the registry office of the commercial court that issues the Kbis. The INPI (Institut National de la Propri\u00e9t\u00e9 Industrielle, the national institute for industrial property) operates the Guichet unique, the single online desk through which the registration file is filed. Once registered, the creation is published in the BODACC (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales, the official gazette for company announcements).<\/p>\n From abroad, four practical points decide whether this stage takes ten days or three months. First, choose the depositary before you transfer a single euro. Banks are the usual depositary, but a notary (notaire) or the Caisse des d\u00e9p\u00f4ts (the state-owned deposits institution) can also receive the funds, and some founders use them when banks are slow. Second, wire the exact subscribed amounts from an account in your own name, with a reference matching the draft articles, because the depositary must draw up the list of subscribers with the sums paid by each of them. A transfer from an unrelated third party, a crypto platform or an account whose holder name does not match creates questions that delay the certificate. Third, anticipate exchange-rate and timing issues: a transfer in dollars or pounds must arrive as the exact euro amount stated in the articles, and the certificate is issued only for funds actually received and cleared. Fourth, keep the certificate and the subscriber list with the registration file, then send the Kbis to the bank immediately after registration to release the money. If you are choosing between company forms at this stage, our pillar guide on choosing between a SAS, a SARL, a branch and a subsidiary in France<\/a> explains which vehicle fits a foreign shareholder before you lock capital into it. If the registry blocks you for lack of a French address, our companion guide on domiciliation, commercial lease and proof of premises for the Kbis<\/a> covers that adjacent hurdle.<\/p>\n A frequent mistake is paying suppliers or signing leases with the blocked capital before registration. The funds on the provisional account belong to the company in formation and are released only after registration. Acts signed before registration can be taken over by the company after registration through the reprise des actes, the formal take-over of pre-registration acts listed in the articles or approved by the shareholders, but money movements should wait for the release. Another mistake is depositing the capital and then letting the file sleep: if registration drags on, the funds stay frozen and the founders cannot use them. File the registration file on the Guichet unique as soon as the certificate is issued, track the completeness notices daily from abroad, and answer them within days, not weeks.<\/p>\n Foreign founders are often surprised by the questionnaire the bank sends: certified passport, proof of home address abroad, company draft articles, group chart, source of funds, business plan, expected turnover, list of countries where clients and suppliers are located, and sometimes a video call. This is not curiosity. Before entering into a business relationship, banks must identify the client and understand the purpose of the relationship. Article L561-5 of the Monetary and Financial Code<\/a> provides that “Avant d’entrer en relation d’affaires avec leur client ou de l’assister dans la pr\u00e9paration ou la r\u00e9alisation d’une transaction, les personnes mentionn\u00e9es \u00e0 l’article L. 561-2 : 1\u00b0 Identifient leur client et, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, le b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaire effectif au sens de l’article L. 561-2-2”. The same article adds that they “2\u00b0 V\u00e9rifient ces \u00e9l\u00e9ments d’identification sur pr\u00e9sentation de tout document \u00e9crit \u00e0 caract\u00e8re probant.” In plain terms, the bank must check who you are with a probative written document, typically a valid passport, and verify the identity of the beneficial owner. Article L561-2-2 of the same Code<\/a> defines that key person: “le b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaire effectif est la ou les personnes physiques : 1\u00b0 Soit qui contr\u00f4lent en dernier lieu, directement ou indirectement, le client ; 2\u00b0 Soit pour laquelle une op\u00e9ration est ex\u00e9cut\u00e9e ou une activit\u00e9 exerc\u00e9e.” If you control the French company through a foreign holding company or a trust-like structure, expect the bank to ask for the full ownership chain up to the natural person at the top.<\/p>\n The bank must also understand what the account will be used for. Article L561-5-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code<\/a> states that “Avant d’entrer en relation d’affaires, les personnes mentionn\u00e9es \u00e0 l’article L. 561-2 recueillent les informations relatives \u00e0 l’objet et \u00e0 la nature de cette relation et tout autre \u00e9l\u00e9ment d’information pertinent.” This is the legal basis for questions about your activity, your clients, your suppliers and your expected flows. A founder who answers precisely, with contracts, invoices or letters of intent, moves faster than one who describes the project in two vague sentences. Update this information during the relationship as well, because the article requires the bank to keep it current for as long as the account lives. A sudden change in activity, a new country of origin for large incoming wires, or a new shareholder can trigger fresh questions months after the opening.<\/p>\n When the bank cannot complete these checks, it must walk away. Article L561-8 of the Monetary and Financial Code<\/a> covers the situation where “une personne mentionn\u00e9e \u00e0 l’article L. 561-2 n’est pas en mesure de satisfaire aux obligations pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 l’article L. 561-5 ou \u00e0 l’article L. 561-5-1”: in that case, “elle n’ex\u00e9cute aucune op\u00e9ration, quelles qu’en soient les modalit\u00e9s, n’\u00e9tablit ni ne poursuit aucune relation d’affaires et peut transmettre la d\u00e9claration pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l’article L. 561-15 dans les conditions pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 cet article.” This text explains the refusals that look arbitrary from the outside. A file with an unverifiable address, an unidentified beneficial owner behind layers of foreign entities, funds whose origin cannot be documented, or a high-risk country connection can lead the bank to decline the relationship rather than breach its own duties. The refusal is then a compliance decision, and arguing louder does not fix it. A cleaner, better-documented file does.<\/p>\n Prepare therefore a complete file before the first contact, and send it in one batch. Include a certified copy of the passport of each shareholder and director, a recent proof of home address abroad with a sworn translation into French if needed, the draft articles showing the capital and its distribution, the ownership chart up to the ultimate natural persons, proof of the origin of the funds such as bank statements, a sale deed, a loan agreement or payslips, and a two-page business description with the French SIRET number expected (the SIRET is the fourteen-digit establishment identifier issued at registration; the SIREN is the nine-digit company identifier). If the company already exists, add the Kbis of less than three months, the list of current directors, and the register of beneficial owners filed with the registry. Non-resident founders should also prepare proof of their foreign tax residence, because the bank applies information-exchange duties on financial accounts held by non-residents. Online banks and payment institutions that accept non-resident directors can be faster, but they apply the same identification duties, and some refuse complex group structures altogether. Ask each candidate bank three questions in writing before transferring funds: whether it accepts a non-resident director and foreign shareholders, which documents it requires for the capital deposit, and what deadline it offers for issuing the certificate once the funds arrive.<\/p>\n A bank may decline to open an account, but it cannot simply say no and close the door. French law gives any person without an account a right to an account, and it organizes a designation procedure run by the Banque de France (the French central bank, which also acts here as the authority that appoints a bank for refused applicants). Article L312-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code<\/a> opens with the principle: “A droit \u00e0 l’ouverture d’un compte de d\u00e9p\u00f4t dans l’\u00e9tablissement de cr\u00e9dit de son choix, sous r\u00e9serve d’\u00eatre d\u00e9pourvu d’un tel compte en France”. The beneficiaries include “Toute personne physique ou morale domicili\u00e9e en France”, which covers a French company with its registered office in France even when its shareholders and directors live abroad. Note the condition: the applicant must have no such account in France. A company that already holds a company account in another French bank cannot use this procedure to force a second bank to open one.<\/p>\n The refused bank owes you a document, and that document unlocks everything. The same article L312-1<\/a> provides that “L’\u00e9tablissement de cr\u00e9dit qui a refus\u00e9 l’ouverture d’un compte fournit au demandeur syst\u00e9matiquement, gratuitement et sans d\u00e9lai, sur support papier, et sur un autre support durable lorsque celui-ci en fait la demande expresse, une attestation de refus d’ouverture de compte”. Always ask for this refusal certificate in writing at the moment of the refusal, and keep the envelope or the electronic receipt proving the date. Without it, the file sent to the Banque de France is incomplete and loses weeks. Once refused, the applicant “peut saisir la Banque de France afin qu’elle lui d\u00e9signe un \u00e9tablissement de cr\u00e9dit situ\u00e9 \u00e0 proximit\u00e9 de son domicile ou d’un autre lieu de son choix, en prenant en consid\u00e9ration les parts de march\u00e9 de chaque \u00e9tablissement concern\u00e9, dans un d\u00e9lai d’un jour ouvr\u00e9 \u00e0 compter de la r\u00e9ception des pi\u00e8ces requises d\u00e9finies par arr\u00eat\u00e9”. The Banque de France page on the right to an account<\/a> confirms the pace: once the complete file arrives, it designates a bank branch within twenty-four hours, and the designation stays valid for six months. The bank so designated must then open the account, since article L312-1<\/a> states that “Ils proc\u00e8dent \u00e0 l’ouverture du compte de d\u00e9p\u00f4t dans les trois jours ouvr\u00e9s \u00e0 compter de la r\u00e9ception de l’ensemble des pi\u00e8ces qui lui sont n\u00e9cessaires \u00e0 cet effet.”<\/p>\n For a company, the request uses a dedicated form. The official form for a company requesting the right to an account<\/a> allows a legal person such as a company to apply to the Banque de France for the designation procedure. Attach the refusal certificate, the draft articles or the Kbis depending on the stage, the identity documents of the legal representative, and proof of the registered office in France. A domiciliation contract with an approved domiciliation company counts as proof of premises for this purpose. Send the file by the channel the Banque de France indicates for your area, keep proof of sending, and calendar the two deadlines: one working day for the designation once the file is complete, three working days for the opening once the designated bank holds all the documents it needs.<\/p>\n The account opened through this procedure carries basic banking services defined by decree. Article D312-5 of the Monetary and Financial Code<\/a> lists them: “Les prestations de base mentionn\u00e9es au II de l’article L. 312-1 comprennent : 1\u00b0 L’ouverture, la tenue et la cl\u00f4ture du compte”, followed by bank identity statements, incoming transfers, monthly statements, cheque and transfer deposits, SEPA direct debits and transfers, remote balance consultation, cash deposits and withdrawals, and a payment card for online payments and withdrawals in the European Union. This is a working account, not a full credit facility: overdrafts, chequebooks beyond the basics and loans are not included. For a young subsidiary that needs to receive capital, pay the accountant and collect early invoices, it is enough to operate while negotiating a full commercial relationship in parallel.<\/p>\n Two limits must be understood. First, the designation does not override anti-money-laundering duties. The same refusal logic from article L561-8 applies to the designated bank: if it cannot identify the client and the beneficial owner or understand the purpose of the relationship, it cannot enter into it. Build the Banque de France file with the same documentary care as the bank file, or the designation leads to a second refusal. Second, the procedure assumes the company is genuinely without an account. If the group already runs French accounts through another entity, use that reality in the file rather than hiding it, and explain why this company needs its own account: separate payroll, separate VAT number, separate liability. Our guide on VAT registration, reverse charge and refunds for foreign-owned French companies<\/a> shows why a dedicated account per company simplifies VAT filings and refunds.<\/p>\nB. Why the bank asks for so many documents: identity, beneficial owner and business purpose checks<\/h3>\n
II. Act when the bank refuses, freezes or closes the account<\/h2>\n
A. Refusal to open: the written refusal certificate and the Banque de France designation<\/h3>\n
B. Closure or freeze while operating: notice, continuity and challenge from abroad<\/h3>\n