Skip to main content
People & firms

The WONE Global Partners in each market.

Named senior professionals, each admitted as the one firm for a service in their country, and the firms they lead.

For professional firms

Lead your service in your market.

One Partner per service, per jurisdiction, admitted by review against published criteria.

Open Partnerships→
Insights

Sourced answers on doing business across borders.

Every statement is labelled: source-checked, professionally reviewed or not yet checked, with its source and date where checked.

Ask WONE Global

Ask your question.

Answers cite WONE Global's sourced statements and show how each one was checked. Research, not advice.

Ask WONE Global→

Cases · Capital & assets · Banking, lending & secured finance

Open the first local bank account

Why won't any bank open an account for our new foreign company?

WONE Global prepares the know-your-customer file the bank will actually accept, explains the ownership structure the way compliance teams need to see it, and introduces the company to banks that serve that profile.

Countries in the typical case India · United Arab Emirates

The situation

What is happening

What is at stake

Without an account you cannot pay salaries, receive revenue or prove substance, and every rejection makes the next bank more cautious.

A scenario

Trading company, Indian-ownedMid-sized company · from India · in United Arab Emirates

Its new Dubai company has been refused by two banks because its ownership runs through three countries. Without an account it cannot receive revenue or pay staff.

Where it ends An operating account, and a file that answers the next bank's questions too.

A representative scenario of the work WONE Global coordinates, not a specific client’s matter.

Also asked as “How do we open a business bank account abroad?”“What documents do banks ask foreign-owned companies for?”“A foreign bank has refused to open our corporate account”

The solution

How WONE Global handles it

WONE Global prepares the know-your-customer file the bank will actually accept, explains the ownership structure the way compliance teams need to see it, and introduces the company to banks that serve that profile.

Usually led by Banking and capital, with Setting up and running a company and Anti-bribery, sanctions and compliance.

Step by step, in the scenario

  1. Day 1WONE Global reviews the ownership chain and the reasons banks gave.
  2. Week 1A bank-ready file: structure chart, source of funds and documents in the form compliance teams expect.
  3. Week 2Introductions to banks that serve this profile, with the professional answering questions.
  4. ThenAccount opened and signatories set; the structure is noted for future banks.

Timings are typical. They depend on the countries, the authorities involved and how quickly documents are available.

Decisions

The decisions involved

  1. 01Which bank fits the entity, currency and volumes
  2. 02What know-your-customer evidence the bank will ask for
  3. 03Who holds signing authority and with what limits

Outcomes

What you receive

  • A KYC pack the bank will accept
  • An operating account with agreed mandates
  • Payment and FX arrangements in place

This is a general guide. Your WONE Global professional confirms the work, timing and fees for your markets before anything starts.

Services

The services involved

One area of expertise usually leads; the others move with it. WONE Global keeps them connected across every country involved.

  1. Usually leadsBanking and capitalArranged on request→
  2. Often involvedSetting up and running a company3 markets with a named lead→
  3. Often involvedAnti-bribery, sanctions and compliance3 markets with a named lead→

Who handles it

Banking and capital, market by market

The status of the lead service in the markets that matter for this case. A named WONE Global Partner acts under their own licence; where none is in place yet, WONE Global confirms availability before anything else.

  1. Indiain the typical case On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
  2. United Arab Emiratesin the typical case On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
  3. Saudi Arabia On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
  4. Singapore On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
  5. United Kingdom On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →
  6. United States On request Availability confirmed before any work begins Bring a requirement →

Other markets: WONE Global covers 100 countries. Name yours in the requirement →

Dr Hajra NazirDubai · United Arab Emirates

WONE Global Capability Partner · United Arab Emirates

Dr Hajra Nazir

Head Corporate Advisory / Consultancy Division · VASS International Auditing & Consultants · Dubai

Dr Hajra Nazir is qualified Professional Doctorate (PD) in Business Advisory & Compliance with prestigious organizations in the field of Corporate Advisory, Business Administration, Law, Commerce, Applied Economics etc.…

Kelvin A. EgbeYaoundé · Cameroon

WONE Global Capability Partner · Cameroon

Kelvin A. Egbe

Managing Partner · Midas Law Group · Yaoundé

Attorney specialized in structuring, licensing, control, project permitting, patents, trademarks & Designs registration, venture financing, trade finance, regulatory intelligence & compliance, Financial markets, natural…

Roberto GilardinoShanghai · China

WONE Global Capability Partner · China

Roberto Gilardino

Regional Partner North Asia & additional countries · Horizons (Shanghai) Corporate Advisory Company · Shanghai

Roberto Gilardino is Regional Partner at Horizons, supervising the advisory’s activities in North Asia as well as additional countries (including Mongolia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, UAE, Cyprus and Malta).

WONE Global Intelligence

Ask about doing business across borders

Ask in your own words. Answers come from WONE Global's checked records, with every source shown, and end with the named Partner who can act. Go deeper on any point, or build a decision file.

Contact WONE Global

Discuss this case with WONE Global.

UNBOUNDED™ · Global Business Circuit™

Work through India ↔ United Arab Emirates with the leaders doing it.

Bring a live question about this corridor to a small online session of senior business leaders, run by UNBOUNDED™, the ecosystem WONE Global belongs to.

The Global Business Circuit™

One corridor, 60 minutes online, 12 senior business leaders. The leaders' own questions set the agenda; market and professional perspectives join only where the questions call for them.

WONE Global is one of the six institutions of the UNBOUNDED™ Global Ecosystem. Links open unboundedglobal.com. WONE Global in the ecosystem