business bank account
Business Bank Account in Romania for Foreign-Owned Companies
The payment account every Romanian company must hold, with the file the bank's checks need prepared before the first meeting, for owners and administrators abroad.
- Payment account within 60 working days of formation
- Duty in force since 1 January 2026
- Refusal only on AML or sanctions grounds
The bank's file is assembled where the owners live, then taken to the bank in Romania.
Your company's payment account, prepared from abroad
We prepare and follow the file for the payment account every Romanian company must hold, at a bank or another payment service provider operating in Romania. The work is for non-resident founders and administrators, companies owned by a foreign parent, a company with no account yet and the buyer of an existing SRL, from our Bucharest office.
Whether a bank accepts the company depends on what the structure carries: the beneficial owners, the ownership chain, translated parent documents, the purpose and source of funds, the real seat. When the owners or the administrator change later, registering a change at the Trade Register and the bank's update of its due diligence go together.
What's included
The deadline plan
The 60 working days counted from the date of formation, with the fine and fiscal inactivity set out before the company is registered.
Provider check
The bank, e-money institution or payment institution you choose, confirmed on the BNR registers or the list of EU providers serving Romania.
The KYC file
A pre-submission checklist built on what the anti-money-laundering law makes the provider verify, compiled against that provider's own list.
The beneficial-owner declaration
Prepared and filed at the trade register (ONRC) with the registration or on a change; the bank must see proof of it.
Translations
Legalised Romanian translations of a foreign corporate shareholder's documents, by an authorised translator.
Liaison and scheduling
With the bank, for identifying the administrator and the beneficial owners in a branch or through a recognised remote process; with ONRC for the documents the bank asks for.
Legal drafting through a Romanian lawyer
A legal act a bank requires, such as a foreign parent's resolution, is drafted by a Romanian lawyer (avocat) or the parent's own counsel.
Where the service stops
The provider alone decides the account. No bank ranked or priced, no legal or tax advice, no bookkeeping, no administrator or shareholder supplied, no promised bank time.
How the account is opened
law a term set by statute none no official time is published
- I
Choose and check the provider
You and us
- II
Register the company
ONRC and us
- the 60 working days run from the date of formation
- III
Beneficial-owner declaration
Us and ONRC
- at incorporation and on every change
- IV
Assemble the KYC file
You and us
- no official time published
- V
Identification
Bank
- before the relationship starts
- VI
Compliance review
Bank
- no term set for the provider's decision
- VII
Account opened
Bank and ANAF
- account due by working day 60
- reported to ANAF daily
- VIII
Capital paid in, account kept
You and the bank
- 30% within 3 months, cash balance within 12 months
Choose and check the provider
You choose, with us; we confirm the provider on the BNR registers and lists.
Register the company
The 60 working days run from the date of formation, which for an SRL is the date of its registration at the trade register. With the filing, ONRC requests a tax identification number in Romania (NIF) for each non-resident individual who is a founder, member, shareholder or administrator (Fiscal Procedure Code art. 83(1)).
Beneficial-owner declaration
We prepare and file the UBO declaration filed at the Trade Register at incorporation and on every change (Law 129/2019 art. 56(1)); the bank asks for proof.
Assemble the KYC file
You supply the documents, we compile them, and an authorised translator translates a foreign parent's papers. No official time is published.
Identification
The bank identifies the administrator and the beneficial owners before the relationship starts, in a branch or remotely where it uses eIDAS means or a recognised secure remote process.
Compliance review
Standard measures, enhanced ones for politically exposed persons, high-risk third countries or unusually complex ownership. Refusal only on AML or sanctions grounds; Law 70/2015 as amended sets no term for the provider's decision, and none is promised here.
Account opened
The IBAN is issued. The company must have its account by working day 60 from formation; the bank sets its own time. The opening goes into the provider's daily report to ANAF and the central account register (Fiscal Procedure Code art. 61(2)(a)).
Capital paid in, account kept
30% of the subscribed capital within 3 months of registration and before trading, the cash balance within 12 months (Law 31/1990 art. 91(2)); one payment account at least, for the company's whole life.
Not sure your file will pass the bank's checks?
The review sets your file against what the AML law makes the bank verify, before the first meeting. No account is promised.
What the bank must check under Romanian AML law
Every Romanian bank and every branch of a foreign bank is a reporting entity under Law 129/2019 art. 5(1)(a); these are the checks the law sets.
What the bank must check before opening the account, under Law 129/2019 in the ONPCSB consolidation, with the article behind each check.
| What the bank checks | What the file must carry | Law 129/2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the client and the beneficial owner, before the relationship starts | Identification of the administrator and every beneficial owner | art. 11(8) |
| Identification from reliable, independent sources | Documents checked in a branch, or eIDAS means or a recognised secure remote process | art. 11(1)(a) |
| The beneficial owner and the ownership and control structure | Who holds more than 25% (or 25% plus one share); failing anyone, the senior managing official; for a foreign parent shareholder, banks in practice also ask for its registration documents and ownership chain in Romanian translation | art. 4(2)(a), 11(1)(b) |
| Proof of the beneficial owners' registration | The proof, or an extract from the register, for a new relationship | art. 11(81) |
| The legal person | Constitutive act or registration certificate, the representative's data, the real seat if it differs from the registered office | art. 15(1)(b), 15(11) |
| A foreign legal person that is the client | A legalised Romanian translation of its constitutive documents | art. 15(2) |
| Purpose and nature of the relationship; monitoring | A business description, expected transactions and, where needed, the source of funds | art. 11(1)(c)-(d) |
| Enhanced measures and higher-risk factors | Politically exposed persons, high-risk third countries named by the European Commission, unusually complex ownership, remote relationships without safeguards | art. 17(1)(c)-(d), 17(14) |
| Due diligence that cannot be completed | No account and no relationship; the EU rule is the same, Directive (EU) 2015/849 art. 14(4) | art. 11(9) |
Documents you will need
The provider's own list decides; the AML law sets the floor.
- Passport or national ID of the administrator, every beneficial owner and any signatory.
- Proof of address for each of them.
- Information on any politically exposed status.
- Registration certificate and constitutive act, once ONRC has registered the company.
- Proof of the registered office (our registered office service) and any different real seat.
- Proof of the beneficial-owner registration.
- A business description and the expected transactions.
- Source-of-funds evidence where the provider asks.
- A foreign parent's registration documents and ownership chain, translated into Romanian.
- A power of attorney only if the bank accepts one, in its form.
The payment-account rules in 2026
The duty sits in Law 70/2015 as amended by Law 239/2025 Art. II, which applies from 1 January 2026 (Law 239/2025 art. XI(2)).
The payment-account rules in 2026: Law 70/2015 as amended by Law 239/2025, applying from 1 January 2026, and the tax and company rules tied to it.
| Rule | What the statute says | Act and article | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The duty | A payment account in Romania or a State Treasury account, at least one for the whole period of activity | Law 70/2015 art. 1(12), 1(13) | Law 239/2025 |
| The deadline | A newly formed legal person opens it within at most 60 working days from the date of formation | Law 70/2015 art. 1(12) | Law 239/2025 |
| In force | From 1 January 2026, not from the law's entry into force on 18 December 2025 | Law 239/2025 art. XI(2) | Law 239/2025 |
| What counts | A payment account in the meaning of art. 5(1) pt. 11 Law 209/2019, Romania's transposition of the EU Payment Services Directive; the statute does not say "bank account" | Law 70/2015 art. 2(g); Directive (EU) 2015/2366 art. 4(12) | Directive (EU) 2015/2366 |
| The must-open rule | A payment service provider of the kinds listed in Law 209/2019 art. 2(a), (b) and (d) that serves Romania may not refuse, except where opening would breach Law 129/2019 or the international sanctions rules (OUG 202/2008) | Law 70/2015 art. 1(14) | Law 239/2025 |
| The fine | 3,000 to 10,000 lei for not holding the account | Law 70/2015 art. 12(4) | Law 239/2025 |
| Inactivity | No payment account in Romania or Treasury account is a ground for fiscal inactivity, declared from 1 January 2026; while inactive, the company cannot deduct the expenses and VAT on its purchases and its customers cannot deduct theirs on purchases from it, both deductions being taken later once it is reactivated and, for VAT, re-registered; VAT registration cancelled | Fiscal Procedure Code art. 92(12)(a); Law 239/2025 art. VII(1); Fiscal Code art. 11(6)-(7), 316(11)(a) | Fiscal Procedure Code, Fiscal Code |
| Reactivation and dissolution | Reactivated once the company has a payment account, with no arrears and all returns filed; dissolved if not reactivated within one year, for companies declared inactive after 18 December 2025 | Fiscal Procedure Code art. 92(71), 92(41); Law 239/2025 art. VII(2) | Fiscal Procedure Code |
| ANAF sees the account | Banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions report openings and closings daily; ANAF keeps the central register of accounts by IBAN | Fiscal Procedure Code art. 61(2)(a), 611(1) | Fiscal Procedure Code |
| The share capital | A new SRL's minimum is 500 lei; 30% paid within 3 months of registration and before trading, the cash balance within 12 months | Law 239/2025 art. VI(2); Law 31/1990 art. 91(2) | Law 239/2025 art. VI, Law 31/1990 |
from the date of formation
- FormationThe date of formation: the 60 working days startLaw 70/2015 art. 1(12)
- Working day 60The payment account is dueLaw 70/2015 art. 1(12)
- No accountA fine of 3,000 to 10,000 lei and a ground for fiscal inactivityLaw 70/2015 art. 12(4); Fiscal Procedure Code art. 92(12)(a)
- While inactiveThe company cannot deduct expenses and VAT on its purchases, nor its customers theirs on purchases from it; taken later, on reactivation. VAT registration cancelledFiscal Code art. 11(6)-(7), 316(11)(a)
- Account openedReactivation, with no arrears and all returns filedFiscal Procedure Code art. 92(71)
- One yearWithout reactivation: dissolution, for companies declared inactive after 18 December 2025Fiscal Procedure Code art. 92(41); Law 239/2025 art. VII(2)
Problems we solve
Refused, or stalled at compliance
A provider may refuse only on AML or sanctions grounds, and must not open where due diligence cannot be completed. We close the usual gaps: beneficial owner, translated parent documents, purpose, source of funds.
"Online" that is not for non-residents
The law allows recognised remote identification, but a bank's online account may be limited to residents with a Romanian identity card. We plan a branch visit or a recognised remote route.
A fintech account as the only account
The duty is a payment-account duty, not a bank-account duty. Whether an EU e-money account or a non-Romanian IBAN is "in Romania" is open; a Romanian-IBAN account at a provider on the BNR lists raises no such question.
No account after working day 60
After working day 60 without an account the company is in breach (a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 lei) and meets the ground for declaring an inactive company in Romania, which cancels the VAT code from registering an SRL for VAT at ANAF; the statute text read sets no separate date for the declaration. Our deadline plan starts before formation.
Buying an existing SRL
When you take over an existing Romanian SRL by share transfer, the company's legal representative files a new beneficial-owner declaration at ONRC (we prepare and file it) and the provider updates its due diligence.
Is your company owned through a foreign parent?
We prepare the parent's translated documents and the ownership chain up to the individuals before the bank asks for them.
Who prepares your bank file
Formation and corporate changes lead, Bucharest. Romanian, English, French.
Company formation is AML-regulated work in Romania (Law 129/2019).
From our practice
We track the 60 working days from formation and assemble the beneficial-owner proof and the parent's translated papers. The bank decides; we prepare the file.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Romanian company have to have a bank account, and since when?
Yes. Every Romanian company must hold a payment account in Romania or a State Treasury account for its whole life, and a newly formed company opens it within 60 working days of the date of formation. The rule, in Law 70/2015 art. 1(12) as amended by Law 239/2025, applies from 1 January 2026.
What happens if we miss the 60 working days?
Not holding the account is fined 3,000 to 10,000 lei under Law 70/2015 art. 12(4), and is a ground for fiscal inactivity. While inactive, the company cannot deduct expenses and VAT on its purchases, nor can its customers on purchases from it, until reactivation; its VAT registration is cancelled, and it is dissolved if not reactivated within one year.
Can a Romanian bank refuse our company?
A payment service provider of the kinds listed in Law 209/2019 art. 2(a), (b) and (d) that serves Romania may not refuse to open the account the law requires, except where opening it would breach the anti-money-laundering law or the sanctions rules. If due diligence cannot be completed, it must not open the account. No account is promised.
Is a Revolut Business or Wise Business account enough to meet the duty?
The statute requires a payment account in the meaning of Law 209/2019, not only a bank account. Whether an account at a passported EU e-money institution, or one with a non-Romanian IBAN, counts as held in Romania is not settled. A Romanian-IBAN account at a provider on the BNR lists raises no such question.
Can the business bank account be opened online, without travelling to Romania?
The anti-money-laundering law accepts identification through eIDAS means or another secure remote process recognised in Romania, and treats a remote relationship without such safeguards as higher risk. Whether a bank offers that route to non-residents is its own choice: some online accounts are limited to residents with a Romanian identity card.
What will the bank ask for when the company is owned by non-residents or by a foreign parent?
The constitutive act or registration certificate and the representative's data, the real seat if it differs from the registered office, the beneficial owners and proof of their registration, the purpose of the relationship and, where asked, the source of funds. For a foreign parent shareholder, banks in practice also ask for its registration documents and ownership chain in Romanian translation.
Who is the beneficial owner of our SRL for the bank?
The individual who ultimately owns or controls the company. Holding more than 25% of the capital, or 25% plus one share, is the indicator under Law 129/2019 art. 4(2)(a). Where nobody qualifies, the beneficial owner is the person in the senior managing position, which for an SRL is the administrator.
Do we need to deposit the share capital before the company is registered?
No. An SRL pays in 30% of its subscribed capital within 3 months of registration and before trading in its name, and the cash balance within 12 months of registration (Law 31/1990 art. 91(2)). The minimum capital of a newly formed SRL is 500 lei, under Law 239/2025 art. VI(2).
Does ANAF know when we open or close an account?
Yes. Banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions report to ANAF every day the holders who open or close bank or payment accounts, and ANAF keeps a central electronic register of payment and bank accounts identified by IBAN, so the opening of the company's account is visible to the tax authority.
Can we close the company's bank account?
How an account is closed is the bank's own procedure, but the company must keep at least one payment account in Romania for its whole activity. Closing the last one breaches the duty and is a ground for fiscal inactivity. A company that is ending goes through dissolution and liquidation instead.
Does a non-resident administrator need a Romanian tax number to open the account?
At registration, the trade register requests a tax identification number (NIF) for each non-resident individual founder, member, shareholder or administrator. When a non-resident individual or a company without a tax code applies for an account, the bank itself sends the number request to the tax authority (Fiscal Procedure Code art. 83(4)). Asking to see a number first is bank practice.
Can a foreigner open a bank account in Romania?
Yes, subject to the bank's checks. A payment service provider of the kinds listed in Law 209/2019 art. 2(a), (b) and (d) that serves Romania may not refuse an individual's request either, except where opening it would breach the anti-money-laundering law or the international sanctions rules. Identity verification and the other due-diligence checks apply in full.
Which banks operate in Romania?
Romanian banks are authorised and supervised by the National Bank of Romania (BNR). The BNR also keeps registers of Romanian e-money and payment institutions and a list of EU e-money institutions that provide services in Romania directly. Those registers are the place to check a provider before the file is prepared.
How do we open a business bank account in Romania, step by step?
Check the provider on the BNR registers, register the company, file the beneficial-owner declaration, assemble the KYC file, have the administrator and beneficial owners identified, pass the bank's review, and open the account within 60 working days of formation. Then pay in 30% of the subscribed capital within 3 months of registration and before trading in the company's name.
Request your bank file review
The review covers the deadline from formation, the provider check, the KYC file, the beneficial-owner declaration and the translations.