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Anti Money Laundering Policy and Information

We are really proud of our adherence to the UK Anti Money Laundering laws, which requires us to obtain certain information about you and your company. Every customer is subject to the same checks, and this ensures our commitment to you that the reputation of your Virtual Office address is maintained. We have a team dedicated to our compliance with the relevant legislation, who ensure the set up process is as quick & simple as possible. We aim to activate your account within 24 hours of receiving the completed form. Take a look at our guidance and when you have gathered the relevant information, click the form below to submit!

New Client Form

Please read below & upload here!

Anti Money Laundering - Untitled (2560 × 2544px) (1)

Who do I need to supply documentation for?

We require documentation for the Ultimate Beneficial Owners of the business. For PLC, C.I.C and Limited companies, this would be the Persons with Significant Control (PwSC) of the company. If there are no PwSC, we would require documentation for the shareholders. If there are no shareholders, we would require documentation for at least 3 officers (or all officers if there are less than 3).

 

What about charities?

For charities, we would require the documentation for at least 3 trustees (or all trustees if there are less than 3).

Acting on behalf of the customer?

If you are supplying documentation on behalf of the named customer, we will need to be satisfied that you are a properly authorised representative. In some instances, we may require the following from you;

  • Photo ID
  • Proof of residential address
  • The relationship to the customer

 

What documentation do you require for each Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

We require a copy of their Photo ID and residential Proof of Address. If they reside overseas, the documents will need to be certified or notarised.

If you wish to check the UK government guidelines on what’s accepted please do so here.

 

Photo ID

One of the following:

  • Passport
  • Photocard Full Driving Licence

We CANNOT accept a Provisional Driving Licence

ID requirements:

  • ID has NO less than 3 months remaining
  • All 4 corners of the document are visible
  • Photo has no glare or distortion
  • All document information is legible

Please note, submitted documentation found to be fraudulent or altered in any way will be reported to the relevant legal authority.

Anti Money Laundering - UK Passport Example

Proof of address

  • Utility bill dated within the last 3 months (gas, electricity, water, broadband, landline telephone or satellite TV)
  • Council tax bill for the current tax year
  • Current account/Building society bank statement dated within the last 3 months
  • HMRC self-assessment letters or tax demand for the current financial year
  • Current year’s Mortgage statement issued by a recognised lender or current signed tenancy agreement.
  • A full photocard driving license with no less than 3 months until expiry.

All 4 corners of the document are visible

Shows the full name of the individual and full address

Written in English or accompanied by an English translation (by an official Sworn translator)

We CANNOT accept Credit Card Statements, statements from online-only banks or Mobile Phone Bills as Proof of Address.

 

Anti Money Laundering - Virtual Office_Mail Services_Virtual HQ

Additional supporting documents

Occasionally, we may be unable to verify part or all of your information. There can be several reasons behind this so please do not be alarmed!

It could be as simple as you live with your parents or you’re in a house share, or perhaps just moved into a new home. Or it could be a discrepancy with your documentation. We may need to have a quick chat to satisfy our checks, where you can let us know anything that you think might be relevant!

If we are unable to pick you up at the address you have provided, don’t worry – but we may need to conduct further verification. This involves us sending a letter to you containing a unique code, which once received you will need to confirm to us along with supplying an additional proof of address document. This provides us with a link to your home address and allows us to activate your account!

Say cheese! If we are unable to verify identity information, we sometimes ask you for a selfie holding the ID you have supplied to us.

Take Your Photo Here

ONLY submit when requested! 

The instances above are rare, but we like to be transparent about all eventualities!

Virtual Office FAQ section

Check whether your documents will need to be certified or notarised

EU residents: Certified

If you live outside the UK, your proof of ID and proof of address documents must be Certified.

What should a certified document look like?

Upon viewing the original and photocopied documents, the professional person or authority should certify the copy by:

Writing: “Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me” on the document
Signing and dating the document
Printing their name under the signature
Adding their occupation, address and telephone number
Stamping the document with their personal or professional stamp

Who can certify documents?

Bank or Building Society Official
Official Councillor
Minister of Religion
Dentist
Chartered Accountant
Solicitor/ Lawyer or Notary
Teacher or Lecturer
Local Town Hall
Doctor
Police Officer

The person you ask should not be related to you, living at the same address or in a relationship with you. We may not be able to accept certification from owners/employees of the company applying for the virtual office with us.

The certification must be present on the actual document to be validated successfully and must be on both the proof of ID and proof of residential address.

Non-EU residents: Notarised

If you live outside both the UK and EU, your proof of ID and proof of address documents must be notarised by a notary public and be accompanied by the relevant official stamp and signature of the notary.

What should a notarised document look like?

Upon viewing the original and photocopied documents, the professional person or authority should notarise the copy by:

Writing: “Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me” on the document
Signing and dating the document
Printing their name under the signature
Adding their occupation, address and telephone number
Stamping the document with their personal or professional stamp

What are notarised documents?

Notarised documents are like certified ones, however they will be signed and dated by a notary public.

(This may be called something different depending on the country you are in)

A notary is a person authorised to perform certain legal formalities, especially to draw up or certify contracts, deeds, and other documents for use in other jurisdictions. The person you ask should not be related to you, living at the same address or in a relationship with you. We may not be able to accept notarisation from owners/employees of the company applying for the virtual office with us.

Some examples of notary publics are:

Embassies
Solicitors registered as a notary public
The notarisation must be present on the actual document to be validated successfully. It must be on both the proof of ID and proof of residential address.

Non-refundable set-up fees - why do we charge?

On your first invoice will be a one-off £30 + VAT set-up fee and here’s why.

As we have already mentioned, we are really proud of our adherence to the UK Anti-Money Laundering laws which require us to obtain certain information about you and your company. We use advanced systems to verify all clients and with our gold standard of checks, you can appreciate it costs VHQ a penny or two! Therefore, we do need to cover these costs with a set-up fee.

The £30 is worth the investment for you to know you are only sharing your address with other reputable businesses – we believe the set-up fee is ‘worth its weight in gold’.

Our work begins as soon as an order is received, we begin by analysing the company structure and background ahead of supporting documents being submitted.

 

 

 

 

Overseas clients

Customers wishing to register a virtual office for a business situated outside of the UK will incur a non-refundable account set-up fee of £100.00 excl. This charge is applied due to the additional steps required when completing Customer Due Diligence and Anti-Money Laundering checks as set out in the relevant guidelines.

Additional companies

This non-refundable set-up fee will be charged for any and each additional company you wish to register, but only if there is a differing beneficial ownership. This fee is applied to cover the additional due diligence required for separate beneficial owners, and is charged at the standard £30.00 excl. per UK registered business and £100.00 excl. per overseas business.

Anti Money Laundering - World,Map,(worldwide)

My company is outside of the UK, what documents are required?

Australia

ASIC current company extract

Austria

Articles of Association

Belgium

Copy of Constitution on the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises Register

Bulgaria

Beneficial owners must be identified via the NPLE Register, under Sole Owner of the Capital.

Canada

Shareholder Agreement/certified list

Croatia

Certified list

Cyprus

Certified list of the company’s beneficial owners

Czech Republic

The Veřejný rejstřík entry

Denmark

Registration entry on the CVR

Finland

Entry on the PRH business register

France

Verified letter from notary confirming beneficial ownership OR Up-to-date Company articles of Association displaying share structure/beneficial ownership OR Shareholder meeting report

Germany

List of shareholders provided by the Unternehmens-Register

Hungary

Certified list of beneficial owners, with full names, addresses and nationalities

Italy

Company registration report from the Registro delle Imprese

Luxembourg

Articles of Association from the Registre de Commerce et des Societes

Malta

Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association

Netherlands

Company Extract of Registration with the KvK

New Zealand

Registration entry on the NZBN Register

Norway

Registration entry on the Brønnøysundregistrene

Poland

Certified list or the shareholder agreement

Portugal

Verified letter from notary confirming beneficial ownership

Republic of Ireland

CRO Annual Return

Romania

NTRO report

Slovakia

S.R.O. Company Entry

Slovenia

Details of UBOs can be found on AJPES under ‘Partners & Equity Interests.’

South Africa

Certificate of Incorporation

Spain

Deed of Incorporation on the Registro Mercantil OR Notarial Deed of Update

Sweden

Memorandum of Association with the Bolagsverket

Switzerland

Cantonal Register Entry

United States

Articles of Association

Existing customers - need to update us?

To avoid any delays to your service, it’s important that we continue to hold up to date information for you and your business.

If you are an existing customer please let us know of any changes, particularly if any of the following has occurred:

  • A change to the residential address of a PWSC: New proof of address required
  • A change to the mail forwarding address: New proof of address required
  • The appointment of a new PWSC: Photo ID and proof of address are required. We may require additional documentation depending on the information you supply.

If one of the above applies to you, or if we have been in touch requesting updated documentation, you can upload this below!

Existing Client Upload

The above is for existing clients ONLY, if you are a new client and this is your first submission please click below!

New Client Form
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