Opening an account and proving your money
Banks and regulators test where the money came from and how the wealth was built, and the strongest file is assembled long before anyone asks for it.
The concepts this turns on
Follow the chain in order, or open any term for the full definition and its legal basis.
- 01
Evidence of where the money for a specific transaction came from, such as a salary payment, a company distribution, or the proceeds of a sale. Regulated firms and banks ask for it before processing significant transactions.
- 02
Evidence of how a person’s overall wealth was built over time, rather than where a single payment originated. Banks, regulators, and buyers in a transaction each test it in their own way, and the strongest files are assembled long before anyone asks.
- 03
A deeper level of client checks applied where the risk is higher, for example with politically exposed persons or complex cross-border structures. It goes beyond standard verification to examine source of wealth and the purpose of the relationship.
- 04
The due-diligence process by which a regulated firm verifies a client’s identity, ownership, and source of funds before and during a relationship. KYC is the practical front line of anti-money-laundering compliance.
- 05
The natural person who ultimately owns or controls an entity, however many layers of ownership sit in between. Identifying the UBO is a core requirement of anti-money-laundering and corporate transparency regimes.
- 06
An individual who holds or has held a prominent public position, together with their close associates and family members. Their profile calls for enhanced due diligence because of the higher risk of bribery or corruption.
- 07
A global framework under which financial institutions report account information to their tax authority, which then exchanges it automatically with other countries. In practice it means an account or structure in one jurisdiction is visible to the tax authority in another.
Other situations
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