Opening Corporate Bank Accounts in Armenia: Procedure and Requirements (2026)

最后更新日期：2026年11月11日

A foreign founder can open a corporate bank account in Armenia once the company is registered, and the registration itself takes one working day after the State Registry receives the documents. The account is a separate decision by the bank: it reviews the company, its owners and its business, and no bank promises approval in advance.

For the wider picture of banking services in Armenia, see our 银行服务页面; for incorporation itself, see 亚美尼亚商业注册.

Two separate steps: the company, then the bank

The company is created by the State Registry of Legal Entities under the Ministry of Justice. The account is opened by a commercial bank under its own anti-money-laundering procedures. Registration gives the company a registration certificate and a tax identification number (TIN); it gives no right to an account.

In our practice we tell clients to allow two to three days for registration and one to four weeks end to end, the variable being apostilles, translations and the bank’s review. Only the registry’s one-day period is set by law.

Step 1: register the company, remotely by power of attorney if you prefer

A foreign individual or company can own 100% of an Armenian LLC. No local director and no minimum share capital are required, and standard registration carries no state fee. The founder does not have to travel: any person the founder authorises may file the application.

Documents for the registry

• Foreign individual founder: a copy of the passport or other identity document, certified and translated into Armenian.
• Foreign company as founder: an extract from its home commercial register (or an equivalent document proving its legal status) and its constitutive documents or extracts, certified and translated into Armenian.
• 理事： passport details, the social card number or the number of the certificate refusing a social card, and an e-mail address.
• The charter and founding decision, and the representative’s power of attorney and identity document if a representative files.

The registry does not require the power of attorney to be notarised. Whether a power of attorney or company document signed abroad also needs an apostille or legalisation depends on the country where it is signed and on the authority that will receive it; no single rule covers every country. Plan for the documents you sign abroad to need certification and an Armenian translation, and confirm the form before you sign.

The one-working-day period runs from the day the complete documents reach the registry, so the time it takes to sign, certify and courier documents from abroad comes on top. Within 40 days of registration the company must also file its beneficial-ownership declaration (see below). For a detailed walk-through of the remote route, see Register an Armenian LLC without visiting.

Step 2: the bank application

The bank’s review covers the company’s legal existence, who may act for it, who owns and controls it, what it does and where its money comes from. Treat it as a new application with its own file, even if the registry accepted your documents the day before.

Remote or in person

• 埃沃卡银行 publishes a remote service for legal entities (page updated 1 October 2026): documents uploaded, identification by video call, and, after a positive decision, a transfer of at least USD 50 before the account is activated.
• 美国银行‘s corporate tariff lists remote account opening through its online ecosystem for legal entities, free of charge. The tariff does not say whether a director who has never visited Armenia qualifies.
• 身份证银行‘s corporate account rules allow an account to be opened through a representative whose power of attorney expressly covers it; the bank requires the power of attorney to be authenticated except in the cases its rules list.
• Banks that publish no remote route: plan for the director or the authorised signatory to attend a branch with original documents. Banks treat non-face-to-face onboarding as a higher-risk case and apply enhanced checks.

A company formed remotely can therefore open its account later, at a bank that accepts remote onboarding, or when the director next travels to Armenia. Our page on what blocks an Armenian LLC for founders from certain countries covers how entry, registration and the bank interact for higher-risk nationalities.

Before you apply: readiness checklist

Ask the bank you choose for its current checklist before you apply. Expect it to cover most of the following:

1. Registration documents: state registration certificate or registry extract, TIN and charter.
2. 权威： the decision appointing the director and any decision authorising the account or naming signatories.
3. 身份： passports of the director, signatories and beneficial owners, with notarised Armenian translations; the director’s PSN or a statement that no PSN has been issued, if the bank asks for one.
4. 产权： the ownership chain up to the individuals at the top, and a beneficial-ownership declaration already filed at bo.e-register.am that matches the charter.
5. 业务描述： what the company does, its expected clients and suppliers, the countries money will come from and go to, and expected monthly volumes.
6. 资金来源： documents showing where the share capital and first payments come from.
7. 牌照： a licence where the activity needs one; a crypto-asset business needs a Central Bank licence.
8. 财务报表： Evocabank’s remote route lists the previous year’s financial statements with an auditor’s opinion, which a newly formed company will not have. Ask the bank what it accepts instead.

The director’s PSN

A public service number (PSN) is the personal identification number used across Armenian public and banking systems, and many banks ask the director or signatory for one. The Migration and Citizenship Service issues the PSN certificate. Its official service page on hartak.am states that the certificate is free and issued immediately; a foreign citizen present in Armenia on legal grounds brings a passport and its notarised Armenian translation. No residence permit is needed.

A new law on the State Population Register will repeal the current PSN law when the register’s database goes live, no later than 1 January 2027. No launch date has been announced, and until it happens the current PSN procedure applies.

Beneficial ownership filings the bank will check

Every Armenian legal entity declares its beneficial owners electronically at bo.e-register.am, and banks reconcile what you tell them with that register.

• 阈值： 20% direct or indirect ownership or control in most sectors; 10% in mining and extraction, where politically exposed persons are declared whatever their share.
• No one above the threshold: the senior manager is declared as the beneficial owner.
• First declaration: within 40 days of the company’s registration.
• 变化： immediately after the company learns of the change, and no later than 40 days. The annual deadline does not postpone this.
• 年度确认： by 20 February each year, the company confirms the declaration is current as of 31 December or files the changed data.
• 惩罚： AMD 30,000 to 100,000 (about USD 83 to 277 at the house rate of AMD 361.36 per USD, CBA rate of 19 October 2026) per violation.

If ownership changes, file the update before you apply to a bank or ask for new services. A mismatch between the register and your bank file is one of the quickest ways to stall a review.

What banks charge: published tariffs for resident and non-resident clients

Account pricing depends on the client category the bank assigns, and some banks publish a separate category for Armenian companies with foreign founders. A company registered in Armenia is a resident legal entity even if its owner is foreign; whether a bank also prices it as a foreign-founder company depends on that bank’s schedule. The figures below are from the banks’ published schedules as read on 10 November 2026; confirm them with the bank before you apply.

Evocabank’s general business-account page says opening and closing are free, which conflicts with its detailed schedule for the foreign-founder and non-resident categories. Ask the bank which line applies to your company. Beyond opening and maintenance, compare charges for internet banking, domestic and international transfers, correspondent fees, currency conversion and statements.

Why banks refuse or delay, and the sanctions screening rules

Armenia’s anti-money-laundering law obliges a bank to refuse to start a business relationship when it cannot complete the required customer due diligence. In practice, an incomplete or inconsistent file ends in refusal or a long round of questions. Whether a bank must explain a refusal is not settled in published law.

What banks publish about their criteria

• 埃沃卡银行 applies risk-based know-your-customer checks with enhanced review for complex ownership structures and high-risk jurisdictions, and refuses or ends relationships with sanctioned or sanction-affiliated customers under UN, US, EU and UK lists.
• 瑞士银行 accepts non-resident companies when the ownership structure and legal form are disclosed and acceptable to the bank. It does not serve companies with bearer shares or businesses in weapons, drugs, human trafficking or money laundering.
• 身份证银行‘s rules state that it rejects sanctions-related transactions and may refuse to serve the client.

No published source ranks banks by how readily they accept foreign-owned companies, and none of the bank policies we reviewed bans particular nationalities outright. A sanctions match and a nationality are different tests.

Sanctions screening since 12 August 2026

Central Bank Decision 21-N added a chapter on international sanctions to the banks’ internal-control rules, in force from 12 August 2026. Banks must screen a customer when the relationship starts and continuously afterwards, and re-screen within one working day when a sanctions list or the customer’s data changes. Screening covers the persons linked to the customer: shareholders with significant direct or indirect holdings, beneficial owners, directors and authorised persons, and the company’s location and place of business. Transactions are screened before they are executed. The chapter sets no ban on any nationality; it requires banks to detect and stop transactions that risk circumventing sanctions.

The banking sector and deposit insurance

The Central Bank of Armenia lists 17 licensed banks: ACBA, Ameriabank, AMIO, Armeconombank, Ardshinbank, Araratbank, ArmSwissBank, Artsakhbank, Byblos, Converse, Evocabank, Fast Bank, ID Bank, Inecobank, Mellat, Unibank and VTB (Armenia). Total deposits in the Central Bank’s series stood at about AMD 8,673 billion (about USD 24 billion) on 30 September 2026.

Armenia’s deposit guarantee scheme covers individuals and individual entrepreneurs only, up to AMD 16 million (about USD 44,300 at the house rate of AMD 361.36 per USD, CBA rate of 19 October 2026) for dram deposits and AMD 7 million (about USD 19,400) for foreign-currency deposits per depositor per bank. Deposits of an LLC, a joint-stock company or any other legal entity are not covered, so a company holding large balances carries the credit risk of its bank.

For incoming international payments alongside the Armenian account, Payoneer serves Armenian-registered businesses; Stripe is not available in Armenia.

CRS reporting, FATCA and crypto businesses

CRS and FATCA

Banks collect a tax-residence self-certification when the account is opened. Each year, by 30 June, they report the previous year’s reportable accounts to the State Revenue Committee, which sends the data to partner tax authorities by 30 September. Law HO-310-N replaced the Tax Code’s chapter on automatic exchange from 26 July 2026, and Government Decision 1522-N of 22 October 2026 replaced the earlier exchange procedure; both dates stayed the same. Armenia’s first exchange took place in September 2025. The State Revenue Committee publishes the list of exchange jurisdictions each year by 30 December; the 2026 count has not been confirmed. For US persons, Armenia has a FATCA agreement with the United States, signed in February 2018. Bank secrecy does not shield an account from either regime.

Crypto-asset businesses

Crypto-asset services came under the Law on Crypto-Assets and the anti-money-laundering framework from 4 July 2025. A new provider needs a Central Bank licence before it starts. A provider that was already active on 4 July 2025 must be registered and licensed by 31 January 2027, and the Central Bank’s notice of 14 September 2026 confirms that unlicensed crypto-asset services will not be permitted after that date. The total number of licensed providers has not been published in one register. A bank will ask a crypto business for its licence or its transition status before it opens an account.

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