How to Open an Offshore Bank Account in Luxembourg in 2026

Opening a business bank account in Luxembourg gives your company an account in an EU financial centre supervised by the CSSF, with euro payments across SEPA and deposits protected up to €100,000. It is the legal way to open an offshore bank account in Luxembourg: your tax residence stays where it is, and the account is reported under CRS.

The hard part is the banks. Their business packages are built for Luxembourg companies with local managers. BGL BNP Paribas does not open business accounts remotely, holding companies pay €250 to €625 a quarter in extra fees, and every bank checks owners and money under the AML law of 12 November 2004. Reviews take weeks.

This is where we come in. We prepare your file and open the account with our regulated partners: the company documents, the RBE extract, your owners' KYC, a written source of funds and the tax forms. One team handles it from start to finish. You tell us what the company does, and we get it done.

Our top-rated, licensed banking providers open multi-currency accounts for Luxembourg companies and their owners abroad in days to about a week, fully remotely, with EU IBANs that work across SEPA.

Why a Luxembourg Business Account for Non-Residents Is Hard

A Luxembourg business account for non-residents is hard to get because the local banks build their business packages around Luxembourg companies with managers they can meet. Owners abroad face in-person identification, long reviews under strict money laundering rules and extra fees for holding structures. With a complete file and the right provider, it is very doable.

What an Offshore Bank Account in Luxembourg Means

Luxembourg is an onshore EU member state, not a tax haven. An offshore bank account in Luxembourg simply means an account held in Luxembourg by a company or an owner based in another country. It is legal, and it does not hide anything. Under the law of 18 December 2015 on the automatic exchange of tax information, Luxembourg banks report the account holder, the balance and the income to the Luxembourg tax authority, which passes the data to the holder's country of tax residence. From 1 January 2026, the updated CRS rules also bring e-money balances into reporting.

Holding the account in Luxembourg does not move your company's tax residence. A company pays tax where it is incorporated or managed, and the account is reported to that country. Treat a Luxembourg account as a banking choice for EU payments and stability, and keep your tax filings at home as they are. For the wider picture, see what an offshore bank account is and how offshore and onshore companies differ.

Luxembourg Banks Are Built for Local Companies

The CSSF supervises 118 banks in Luxembourg, 48 of them branches of foreign banks. Most small companies apply to a short list of retail banks: Spuerkeess, BGL BNP Paribas, BIL, ING Luxembourg, Banque Raiffeisen and POST Finance. Their processes assume a local company and people who can come in. BGL BNP Paribas states that its business account opening cannot be done remotely and that proper identification is required in person. POST asks the person acting for the company to visit a post office for identification. BGL also asks for a tax number for every director, signatory and beneficial owner, plus a business plan and an ownership chart.

Strict Checks Under the AML Law

Every Luxembourg bank applies the law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, under CSSF supervision. The law makes the bank identify each beneficial owner, understand why the company needs the account and check where the money comes from. Owners abroad, foreign holding companies and payments with many countries all add questions. A bank will also check that the owners you declare match the Register of Beneficial Owners. None of this is a reason to avoid Luxembourg. It is a reason to send a file that answers the questions before they are asked.

Holding Companies and High Risk Sectors

Luxembourg is home to many holding companies and funds, and the banks price them separately. Holding, financial and asset holding companies pay extra management fees at several retail banks, and some sectors, such as crypto, gaming and payments, get longer reviews or a no at the banks. One of our partners accepts gambling, betting, casino and crypto businesses. If your company holds shares or runs a holding structure, expect the bank to ask for the full group chart and the source of every capital injection.

Why Luxembourg Business Account Applications Get Refused

Most refusals come from the same gaps: an incomplete application, owners missing from the RBE, an ownership chain with no explanation, a source of funds with no evidence, no clear reason to bank in Luxembourg, or a sector the bank does not serve. Spuerkeess says plainly that incomplete applications cannot be processed. Accepting a client is the bank's own commercial decision, and a refusal rarely comes with a detailed reason. Every one of these gaps can be fixed before you apply.

What to Do After a Refusal

Do not send the same file to the next bank. Find the gap first: the RBE entry, the source of funds, the business description or the structure. Fix it, then apply once, to a provider that accepts your owners and your sector. If the company needs to get paid now, a partner account keeps it trading while a local bank relationship is built later.

Read more: business bank accounts for non-residents and why banks reject business account applications.

Banks Offering the Best Business Account in Luxembourg

The best business account in Luxembourg depends on who runs the company and what it holds. For a local SARL with simple euro payments, the retail packages are cheap. For owners abroad or a holding company, in-person identification, holding surcharges and fees on payments outside SEPA change the picture. The table shows what each bank publishes.

The low package prices are for a Luxembourg company with simple needs. For a holding company or a company owned from abroad, the real price is the management surcharge, the fees on payments outside SEPA and the exchange margin. Private banks are built for wealth management, set their own entry levels and rarely publish them, so they are not a route for a small company's daily payments.

Holding Companies Pay Extra Management Fees

Holding structures cost more at every retail bank. ING Luxembourg's business banking tariff of 1 June 2026 charges financial and asset holding companies €125 to open an account and €625 a quarter in management charges, which is €2,500 a year. BGL BNP Paribas adds €250 a quarter for financial companies, holding companies and SOPARFIs on any pack. Spuerkeess sets servicing fees from €100 a month, excluding VAT, for financial companies.

Fees on Every Payment Outside SEPA

Euro payments inside SEPA are cheap or free. International business payments are not. ING Luxembourg charges 0.15% on payments outside SEPA, from €5 to €120. BGL BNP Paribas charges 0.15%, from €10 to €180, Banque Raiffeisen 0.2%, from €9 to €250, and Spuerkeess 0.175%, from €10 to €100. Incoming payments in other currencies cost 0.15% to 0.2% as well, and asking the bank to pay all charges adds €20 to €100 more.

Exchange Rate Mark-Ups

Currency conversion carries two costs. BGL BNP Paribas charges a 0.1% exchange fee and says its exchange rate already includes a mark-up. BIL's SME tariff of 1 October 2026 sets an exchange fee of 1.20% on transfers and 2.25% on card payments in other currencies. On €500,000 of foreign currency payments a year, a 1.20% fee costs €6,000.

Branch Visits and Slow Reviews

None of the six retail banks publishes a decision time for a business account. Two of them need you in person, BGL at one of its business centres and POST at a post office. Spuerkeess runs a written application with five steps and activates the account only after its internal bodies approve it and every contract is signed. For owners abroad, the travel and the waiting are the largest hidden costs.

Read more: best countries for business banking and the easiest country to open a business bank account.

A Faster and Cheaper Way to Open a Luxembourg Business Account

Our regulated partners are electronic money institutions licensed in the EU, one authorised by the Central Bank of Cyprus and one licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority. They open a Luxembourg business account fully online, in 2 to 3 business days at one partner and about a week at the other, with an IBAN for SEPA and several currencies. There is no branch visit and no minimum balance. They cost less where Luxembourg banks charge the most: holding company surcharges and currency conversion.

We prepare the file before the partner sees it: the RCS extract, the articles, the shareholder register and RBE extract, the owners' identity documents, a plain description of the business and a written source of funds. Because the usual questions are answered upfront, the review happens once. Both partners must safeguard client money by law, and one holds it in segregated accounts at European banks, separate from its own funds.

Under Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation (EU) 260/2012, a payer or payee in the EU may not insist that your euro account sits in a particular member state. An EU IBAN from a partner works for your Luxembourg clients, suppliers and the tax office.

For a holding company or a company with owners abroad, our partners are faster and usually cheaper over the year. They are not cheaper on opening, on euro payments inside SEPA or on a single payment outside SEPA, where Luxembourg banks cap their fees. For a Luxembourg-resident manager with a simple SARL that only pays in euros, a €9 or €12.50 package at a local bank is cheaper, and it is fair to say so.

How to Open a Business Bank Account in Luxembourg Online

Through us, each director verifies their identity remotely online and signs electronically. We upload the company documents, answer the partner's questions and tell you when the account is live. There is no trip to Luxembourg and no local address needed for the owners.

What Our Partners Do Not Do

Our partners are not banks, and we say so plainly. They do not lend or offer overdrafts, they do not handle cash and they pay no interest. Funds are safeguarded rather than covered by the FGDL deposit guarantee. If the company needs a loan, a bank guarantee or cash deposits, keep a Luxembourg bank for those and run daily payments through the partner. Our guide to a business bank account vs an EMI account sets out the difference.

Documents to Open a Business Bank Account in Luxembourg

Banks and partners ask for the same core set: the company's registry papers, the beneficial owner records, identity and address proof for each person, and evidence of the business and its money. We gather them with you so they arrive complete, consistent and in one round.

Company Documents

For an existing company, send the articles of association, a recent extract from the Trade and Companies Register (RCS) held by Luxembourg Business Registers, the shareholder register and the RBE extract. BGL BNP Paribas also asks for balance sheets. For a company still being set up, banks work from the draft articles, a business plan and an ownership chart. A foreign company sends the same set from its home registry, translated where needed. Check the general business bank account requirements if your company sits outside Luxembourg.

Owners, Directors and Signatories

Each director, signatory and beneficial owner provides a valid passport or identity card, proof of home address and a tax identification number. The beneficial owners must match the RBE. Since the EU Court of Justice ruling of 22 November 2022, the register is no longer open to the general public, but banks and other AML professionals still have access and use it to check your file.

The Business and the Source of Funds

Describe what the company does, who its customers and suppliers are, which countries it works with and the payments you expect each month. Write the source of funds with evidence: where the share capital came from and how the business will earn. BGL recommends a business plan and three years of financial statements for an existing company. Contracts and invoices help a new one.

Tax Residence Forms

Every bank and partner asks the company to self-certify its tax residence and, for some entities, the tax residence of the people who control it. This is the CRS form, and it decides where the account is reported. Fill it in to match your tax filings, because a mismatch stops the review.

Read more: documents needed to open a business bank account and banking for family offices.

Luxembourg Business Bank Account Costs

A Luxembourg business bank account costs €5 to €75 a month in package fees at the retail banks. The real cost for an international company sits elsewhere: holding surcharges of up to €625 a quarter, 0.15% to 0.2% on payments outside SEPA and exchange fees of up to 1.20%. The table sets the banks' published ranges against our partners.

For a holding company, the package fee is the smallest part of the bill. A SOPARFI on BGL's €16 Comfort Pro Pack pays €1,192 a year: €192 for the pack and €1,000 in holding surcharges. A financial holding company at ING pays €2,637 in its first year: €125 to open, €2,500 in management charges and €12 in account fees. A partner plan costs €860 to €1,100 in its first year, including the onboarding fee, and €360 to €600 a year after that. Converting €500,000 a year costs €6,000 at BIL's 1.20% exchange fee and €4,000 to €5,000 at 0.8% to 1% over the interbank rate at one partner. A single €80,000 payment outside SEPA is the other way round: €120 at BGL against €105 to €145 at one partner, and the bank caps its fee on larger amounts.

For a Luxembourg company with a local manager and only euro payments, a retail package at €9 to €25 a month is cheaper than a partner plan, with free opening and cheaper SEPA transfers, and it is fair to say so. For an international business bank account in Luxembourg held by a holding company, or one that converts currency often, our partners cost less over the year. If you send many small payments outside SEPA, ask us for a custom quote. All figures are planning ranges from the banks' published tariffs, and we confirm your price in writing before you apply.

Read more: business bank account fees explained and banking for investment funds.

Timeline for Opening a Business Bank Account in Luxembourg

Opening a business bank account in Luxembourg takes weeks at a local bank, and none of the retail banks publishes a decision time. Files with owners abroad or a holding structure take longest. With our partners, the account opens in 2 to 3 business days at one partner and about a week at the other, once the company is registered and the file is complete.

What Slows It Down

The usual delays are owners missing from the RBE, a source of funds with no evidence, documents that disagree with each other, and a trip to Luxembourg that has to be planned around the bank. Each missing item restarts part of the review.

How to Speed It Up

Register the company and its beneficial owners first, collect every document in one round, and answer questions the same day. Apply once, to a provider that accepts your owners' countries and your sector.

What Happens After the Account Is Open

After the account opens, fund it, add your users and share the IBAN with clients and suppliers. Then keep the company in good standing, because banks and partners check it at every periodic review. Three things matter most in Luxembourg: tax, the RBE and reporting.

A company resident in Luxembourg City pays a combined 23.87% on profits above €200,000 in 2026: corporate income tax of 16% since tax year 2025, the 7% employment fund surcharge on that tax, and 6.75% municipal business tax. VAT is 17%. A company resident elsewhere pays tax at home, whatever bank it uses.

Update the RBE within one month of any change in beneficial owners. The law sets fines of €1,250 to €1,250,000 for a company that does not file. Tell your bank or partner about new owners, directors or activities before the payments change, and expect the account to be reported each year under CRS. Larger balances at a bank are covered by the FGDL only up to €100,000, so plan how deposit guarantees work for companies if you hold more. One of our partners charges a dormancy fee of €99 plus 0.5% of the balance after six months without activity, so close an account you no longer use.

Read more: Netherlands business bank account and how to open a business bank account in Germany.

Why the Company Comes Before the Account

A bank or partner cannot review a company that does not exist yet. A Luxembourg SARL needs a notary and at least €12,000 of share capital. Until June 2026, the founders usually had to pay that capital into a blocked bank account first, and the bank's blocking certificate went to the notary. A law of 18 May 2026, in force since 2 June 2026, lets founders pay the €12,000 within 12 months, so an SARL can now be formed before any account is opened. An SARL-S needs between €1 and €12,000, only individuals as shareholders and a business permit. Form the company, file its owners with the RBE, then open the account with a complete file. If you are still choosing where to form, see the best country to register a company in Europe.

Common Luxembourg Business Bank Account Mistakes

Most problems come from applying with the wrong file or to the wrong bank. Each mistake below costs time or money, often both, and each one is easy to avoid when the company and the file are ready before you apply. These are the ones we see most.

Applying Before the RBE Is Filed

Founders often apply for the account first and leave the beneficial owner filing for later. Banks check the RBE against the file, and a gap stops the review. The law gives one month from the relevant event to file, and the fine for missing it runs from €1,250 to €1,250,000. File the beneficial owners with Luxembourg Business Registers as soon as the company is formed. Download the extract, check that every name and percentage matches your ownership chart, and send it with the application. The same one-month rule applies whenever owners change later, and every periodic bank review checks it again.

Ignoring the Holding Company Surcharge

A holding company owner sees a €9 or €16 package and budgets for that. The bank then classes the company as a financial or holding company and adds its surcharge: €250 a quarter at BGL BNP Paribas, or €625 a quarter at ING Luxembourg, which is €2,500 a year before a single payment. Read the full tariff for your company type, not the package page. If the company only holds shares and pays a few invoices, the way the holding is structured and where it banks both change the yearly cost. Ask for the fee for your exact company type in writing before you sign.

Paying Foreign Currency Through a Euro Account

Many companies open a euro account and then pay suppliers in dollars or pounds through it. Each payment then carries a transfer fee of 0.15% to 0.2% and an exchange cost. At BIL, the exchange fee is 1.20%, so €500,000 of foreign currency payments a year costs €6,000 in fees alone. Plan the currencies before you open. A multi-currency business account that holds dollars and pounds avoids converting every payment. Our partners hold euros, dollars, pounds and more side by side, so a supplier paid in dollars is paid from dollars, and when you do convert, one partner charges 0.8% to 1% over the interbank rate.

Sending a File With Gaps

An application with a missing passport, an old registry extract or an unexplained shareholder goes to the back of the queue. Spuerkeess states that incomplete applications cannot be processed, and other banks come back with questions one at a time. Each round can add a week or more. Build the file once, with every document current and consistent, and answer the bank's questions the same day. Check that names, addresses and percentages are the same on every document, from the articles to the RBE extract and the shareholder register. A small mismatch, such as a director's old address, can stop a review until it is explained.

Treating an Offshore Account as a Tax Shelter

Some owners open an offshore bank account in Luxembourg expecting it to change where the company pays tax. It does not. The account is reported each year under CRS to the country where the company and its controlling persons are tax resident. Declaring income at home, as before, is the only safe position. Use Luxembourg for what it does well: EU payments, a stable banking system and a reputation that clients and suppliers trust. From 2026, the updated CRS rules also cover e-money balances, so an account with a payment institution is reported in the same way. Keep the account in the company's books and its tax return.

Bottom Line

A Luxembourg business bank account is straightforward for a local company with a resident manager and simple euro payments. For everyone else, the local route means in-person identification, weeks of review, surcharges of up to €625 a quarter for holding companies and fees of 0.15% to 0.2% on every payment outside SEPA. An offshore bank account in Luxembourg is legal and reported under CRS, and it never changes where the company pays tax.

The faster route is a regulated partner that issues an IBAN for SEPA, holds several currencies and opens without a branch visit. With the company registered, the RBE filed and a complete file, you can open a Luxembourg business account from anywhere, live in 2 to 3 business days at one partner and about a week at the other.

Sources

• Spuerkeess: Main banking fees as of 1 January 2026, business customers
• BGL BNP Paribas: List of key banking fees, professionals, 1 October 2026
• BGL BNP Paribas: Open a business account
• BIL: Tarification PME, 1 October 2026
• ING Luxembourg: Tariff brochure, Business Banking clients, 1 June 2026
• Banque Raiffeisen: Fees and terms, 4 June 2026
• POST Luxembourg: Professional customers fee schedule, 1 February 2026
• CSSF: Luxembourg financial centre figures, September 2026
• FGDL: Deposit guarantee
• Luxembourg Business Registers: Law of 13 January 2019 establishing the Register of Beneficial Owners (consolidated 2025)
• Government of Luxembourg: RBE access after the CJEU ruling, 21 December 2022
• Administration des contributions directes: Corporate tax burden by tax year
• Chamber of Deputies: Bill 8669 on deferred payment of SARL minimum share capital
• Spuerkeess: CRS, automatic exchange of tax information
• EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (SEPA Regulation)