You open a corporate bank account for a new Sdn Bhd by giving the bank certified copies of its SSM documents, a board resolution authorising the account and naming the signatories, and identification for every director and beneficial owner. The complication the published guides leave half-answered is that several banks still ask, in writing, for documents your company was never issued.
Key takeaways
- Your company holds a notice of registration under section 15 of the Companies Act 2016, not a certificate of incorporation. The certificate is issued only “upon an application by a company and on payment of a prescribed fee”.
- RHB’s published list still asks for Form 9, 24, 44, 49 and the M&A, and Hong Leong’s procedure asks for the same family. They are Companies Act 1965 forms, and section 620(1) says: “The Companies Act 1965 is repealed”.
- CIMB publishes who may certify what, and its rule for the extract resolution changes with the number of directors.
- CIMB publishes a minimum initial deposit of RM3,000 for its business current account and requires every authorised signatory at the branch — that bank’s terms, not a market rate.
What do you actually need to open a corporate bank account?
The bank needs enough to satisfy Bank Negara Malaysia’s due diligence rules for a company: its name and business registration number, the powers that bind it, its registered address, its nature of business, its directors’ and beneficial owners’ details, and the person authorised to represent it. Nearly every document on a bank’s checklist evidences one of those seven things.
Read against that list the documents stop looking arbitrary:
- Certified copies of the SSM registration documents.
- Register of members and return of allotment — who owns the company (s.50(1), s.78(1)).
- Register of directors, managers and secretaries — who runs it (s.57(1)).
- Registered-office particulars — section 46(1) requires an address “to which all communications and notices may be addressed”.
- The constitution, if one was adopted.
- A board resolution authorising the account and naming the signatories.
- Identification for every director, signatory and beneficial owner.
SSM registered 60,712 companies in 2025, so this is routine work. For the wider sequence see what to do after incorporating a Sdn Bhd and our guide to Sdn Bhd incorporation.
Why does the bank ask for all of this?
Because the bank is legally required to. Opening an account triggers customer due diligence under Bank Negara Malaysia’s anti-money-laundering framework, which applies when a reporting institution is “establishing business relationship with a new customer”. The bank is not testing your patience; it is discharging its own obligation, and it cannot waive it for a small company.
“CDD is the process of identifying and verifying the identity of your customer. A reporting institution must be satisfied that the customers are whom they say they are.”
Two consequences surprise founders. A beneficial owner “must be an individual (natural person)”. Bank Negara traces ownership through a chain, direct “through percentage of shareholding” or indirect “through another company, entity or via proxy” — so a corporate shareholder means the bank keeps going until it reaches people. And it must verify what you hand over “against reliable and independent documentation”, which is why a plain photocopy is refused and a certified true copy is not.
Why does the bank’s form still ask for Form 9, 24, 44 and 49?
Because those checklists were written under the Companies Act 1965 and never fully rewritten. Section 620(1) of the Companies Act 2016 repealed that Act, so a company incorporated since has never held a Form 9, 24, 44 or 49. The documents still exist in substance, under new names and new sections, and the substance is what the bank needs.
RHB’s requirements for private limited companies still list “FORM 9 - Certificate of Incorporation of Private Company” and “FORM 49 - Return Giving Particulars in Register of Directors, Managers and Secretaries and Changes of Particulars”, alongside Forms 24 and 44 and the M&A. Hong Leong asks for “Certified true copies of Form 9 and Form 44”. The published guides get part of the way: Acclime lists the old forms and hedges “or their latest equivalents under the Companies Act 2016” without supplying them, and Airwallex names sections 14, 15, 58 and 78 but does not touch the Form 9, 24, 44 and 49 checklists the banks still publish. Here is the whole mapping.
| What the bank’s form asks for | What your Sdn Bhd actually holds | Companies Act 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Form 9 — certificate of incorporation | The notice of registration issued on incorporation, or a certificate if you applied and paid for one | s.15, s.17, s.19 |
| Form 24 — return of allotment of shares | The return of allotment lodged within fourteen days, and the register of members | s.78(1), s.50(1) |
| Form 44 — notice of situation of registered office | The registered-office particulars in the incorporation application, changes notified within fourteen days | s.46 |
| Form 49 — register of directors, managers and secretaries | The register kept at the registered office, and the notification lodged with the Registrar | s.57(1), s.58(1) |
| M&A — memorandum and articles | The constitution, if the company adopted one — a Sdn Bhd need not have one | s.31(1) |
The Form 9 row is the one to hold your ground on, politely. A branch officer asking for a certificate is asking for an optional document; the notice of registration you hold is the stronger instrument. If the officer will not move, the section 17 certificate can be applied for rather than argued about.
“The notice of registration is conclusive evidence that the requirements of this Act in respect of registration and matters precedent and incidental to such registration have been complied with and that the company is duly registered under this Act”.
Some checklists carry an escape hatch: Hong Leong accepts “Certified true copies of Form 24 (or latest annual return)” — no help to a company incorporated this year, which has filed none. And the Form 44 address receives every SSM and bank notice, so if you are still choosing one, compare registered office address providers in Klang Valley.
Who can certify the documents?
CIMB states that company documents other than the extract resolution may be certified by the company secretary or a company director, and that an extract resolution is certified by the sole director where the company has one, or by the secretary and one director, or any two directors, where it has more than one. RHB requires its forms to be certified by the company secretary.
Who signs the board resolution?
Those rules track the statute. Section 66(2) provides that a document is validly executed when signed “by at least two authorized officers, one of whom shall be a director”. For a sole director it is signed “in the presence of a witness who attests the signature”, and section 66(5) counts a secretary as an authorised officer. So Curlec’s advice that a resolution must be “signed by at least two directors” is wrong for a single-director Sdn Bhd. A resolution is needed because section 211(1) puts “the business and affairs of a company” in the hands of the Board. What it settles is narrower than founders expect:
- That the company opens an account with that specific bank. RHB asks for a “Board Resolution to open Current Account with RHB Bank” — a generic one often has to be redone.
- Who is authorised to represent the company. One of Bank Negara’s seven minimum items, and the resolution supplies it.
- Who executes and certifies it. Section 66(2) settles the signing; the bank’s rule settles the certifying.
Check the format first: CIMB supplies resolution samples inside its application form, and Hong Leong asks for a “Board/ Certified Extract Resolution (Bank’s Standard format)”. Sequencing matters too — section 236(2) requires the first company secretary within thirty days of incorporation, and the secretary is the certifier RHB names, so see whether a company secretary is mandatory for a Sdn Bhd first.
Do you need a company constitution, or a company stamp?
Neither is required by the Companies Act 2016. Section 31(1) provides that a company other than one limited by guarantee “may or may not have a constitution”, and section 61(1) that a company “may or may not have a common seal”. If your Sdn Bhd adopted no constitution, there is no M&A to certify, and you say so.
The bank checklists mislead most cheaply here: RHB and Hong Leong both still list the memorandum and articles as a required document, and Emerhub’s guide lists the “Company’s rubber stamp”. A bank may still ask for a stamp as its own commercial condition — but the law does not require one, and knowing which you face saves a wasted trip.
What happens at the branch?
CIMB requires every authorised signatory to attend its branch appointment in person, and lists a minimum initial deposit of RM3,000 for its business current account. Requirements differ from bank to bank, so treat any rule or figure as that bank’s own and confirm it for the account you want.
What slows it down?
Four things turn one appointment into two, and three of them are settled before anyone leaves the office. A signatory named in the resolution who cannot attend. A resolution drafted before the bank’s own template was checked. Certification by someone the bank does not accept, which comes straight back. The fourth is foreign directors: CIMB asks for an “Employment pass or work permit issued by Malaysian authorities for foreign nationals” alongside the passport. Confirm that early if your board is not all Malaysian; the ownership side is covered in whether a foreigner can wholly own a Sdn Bhd.
PT Corporate Services acts as the named company secretary under the Companies Act 2016 and maintains the registers, resolutions and SSM filings behind that checklist. We neither open bank accounts nor recommend banks — but the documents, in the form your bank accepts, are ours to produce and certify. Founders moving off a sole-proprietor account can start with converting a sole proprietorship to a Sdn Bhd.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a certificate of incorporation to open a bank account?
Usually not. Under section 19 of the Companies Act 2016 the notice of registration is conclusive evidence that the company is duly registered, and section 17 makes the certificate optional, issued only on application with a prescribed fee. If a bank insists you can apply for one, but ask first whether the notice satisfies the file.
My bank’s form asks for Form 49. What do I give it?
The register of directors, managers and secretaries that section 57(1) requires every company to keep at its registered office, together with the section 58(1) notification lodged with the Registrar. That pair carries the particulars Form 49 carried under the repealed Companies Act 1965, and your company secretary holds and certifies both.
Can a single director sign the board resolution alone?
Yes, with a witness. Section 66(2)(b) of the Companies Act 2016 allows execution by a sole director “in the presence of a witness who attests the signature”. CIMB’s published rule matches it: a company with one director has its extract resolution certified by that director, while a company with more needs the secretary and one director, or any two directors.
PT Corporate Services Sdn Bhd is a corporate secretarial firm in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya. This article is general information, not legal, banking or tax advice, and bank requirements change without notice — confirm the current checklist with your bank. If you want the SSM documents, registers and board resolution prepared and certified in the right order, message us on WhatsApp.
Sources
- Companies Act 2016 (Act 777), SSM published text — sections 15, 17, 19, 31(1), 46, 50(1), 57(1), 58(1), 61(1), 66, 78(1), 211(1), 236(2), 620(1).
- Bank Negara Malaysia, AML/CFT: Customer Due Diligence — CDD, the minimum information for a legal person, beneficial ownership, verification.
- RHB Bank, SME Banking Current Account — required documents for private limited companies, captured 28 August 2026.
- Hong Leong Bank, Application Procedure for Business Account — document checklist and resolution format, captured 28 August 2026.
- CIMB, Business Current Account-i — what to bring, who must attend, who may certify, initial deposit, captured 28 August 2026.
- SSM, Company and Business Registered Statistics for 2025 — 60,679 local and 33 foreign companies registered.