Frequently asked questions

iKYC is a specialist banking advisory firm founded in 2012. We are based in Jersey and Amsterdam. We open bank accounts for complex structures across twelve jurisdictions, working with a panel of more than thirty licensed banks.

We identify the bank or custodian with current appetite for your structure. We prepare the file in the form that bank expects. We manage the appointment until the account is open. We advise. We are not an introducer or a broker, and nothing we do is operational.

Regulated Trustees, corporate service providers, fund administrators, family offices and principals. Most of our work arrives through the professional advisers who administer the structures.

No. iKYC is a banking advisory firm only. We do not manage, hold or control client assets at any point. Investment mandates sit with the manager appointed by the structure.

No. Every institution on our panel holds a full banking licence in its jurisdiction. In our view a virtual IBAN is not a bank account, and we do not place clients with e money institutions or payment platforms.

Nothing. The initial bankability assessment is complimentary. Our fees are agreed in writing before we start work.

Within one business day. You receive a first view on whether the structure is bankable, where, and what the file will need.

The type of structure, where it is administered, what it does, the category of wealth behind it and where the principals are based. The Apply page asks for exactly this and takes a few minutes.

Not at the enquiry stage. We take identity and ownership detail under a non disclosure agreement once you instruct us. The first assessment runs on the shape of the structure, not on names.

Only after we have been engaged. We do not circulate a file to test the market. One prepared approach to the right bank is worth more than ten speculative ones.

Four weeks from instruction is the standard timeline. It depends on the bank's due diligence process and the completeness of the KYC file. Urgent cases, such as a bank exit with a deadline, are prioritised.

Yes. Family office structures are a core part of our work. Banks want to see the ownership chain, the purpose of each entity and the origin of the family wealth. We prepare that picture so the bank can approve the relationship rather than ask for it piece by piece.

Yes. Every account we open is in the name of the entity itself. We do not use nominee or pooled arrangements. For a trust that means an account in the name of the Trustees for the trust, with the deed, the Trustee's regulatory standing and the source of wealth presented in the form the bank requires.

Yes. A foundation has no shareholders and no beneficiaries in the conventional sense, which many banks treat as higher risk. We document the council, the purpose and the source of endowment up front and place the foundation with banks that understand the vehicle.

Yes. Banks apply heightened scrutiny to PTCs because control is concentrated and there is no regulated Trustee above the structure. We prepare the ownership and control analysis, the purpose narrative and the source of wealth documentation the bank needs.

Yes. A newly formed vehicle is declined for limited history more often than for any other reason. The answer is a file that explains what the entity is for, who stands behind it and where the money will come from, presented to a bank with appetite for that profile.

Yes. Owner managed businesses held through a trust or an offshore holding company are a regular instruction. The bank needs to understand both the trading activity and the ownership above it. We present the two together.

Yes. Banks usually treat each cell as a separate banking relationship, and the core company needs its own account. We prepare the ownership and purpose analysis cell by cell.

Yes. Bank appetite varies by the region the principals sit in, and that is one of the first things we match. Structures with principals in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas are placed regularly.

Yes. In our view a US connection narrows the panel rather than closing it. We identify the banks with appetite for US connected structures and prepare the reporting documentation they require.

Declined files are among our most common instructions. We read why the file was declined before we touch it. We rebuild the presentation around what the next bank's committee needs to see, and we approach only banks with current appetite for the profile.

Not if the file is rebuilt correctly. The next bank assesses the structure on a fresh and complete presentation. Sending the same file to a long list of banks is what causes a second decline.

We give a first view within one business day. Replacement banking is often time critical, and recovery cases are prioritised. The standard time to an open account remains four weeks from instruction.

Often for commercial reasons rather than risk. A structure without significant assets at the bank earns the bank very little, so onboarding stalls or the answer is no. Other banks take a longer view of the relationship. In our view the job is to find them, not to argue with the bank that said no.

Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, London, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. Each has its own page setting out where appetite sits, in our view.

Yes. Where a structure needs accounts in two or more countries, we arrange that within one advisory relationship. Multi currency accounts are standard.

Yes. We place custody for portfolios held under nominee structure, with settlement, corporate actions and reporting at institutional standard. The investment mandate stays with the manager the structure appoints.

You choose from the options we identify. We do not name banks before engagement, and we do not send your file anywhere without your instruction.

Yes. Family office SPVs are a regular instruction. The bank needs the ownership chain above the SPV, the purpose of the vehicle and the origin of the family wealth. We present those together so the account opens on the strength of the people and the purpose, not on the balance.

Yes. We place family office SPVs with licensed banks that offer multi currency operating accounts, international payments and term deposits in one relationship. We do not use e money institutions or payment platforms for this.

It depends on where the principals sit and what the vehicle holds. Jersey, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore each have banks with appetite for family office vehicles. We tell you which fit the profile within one business day.

Ten years following the end of an engagement, in line with our obligations under Jersey and Dutch law and professional liability standards.

Please direct any data rights requests to richard@ikyc.com. We will respond within the statutory timeframe.