Bank document preparation for LLC verification

Research summary and collected guidance for: "Bank document preparation for LLC verification" (US businesses) Steps taken - Ran broad web searches targeting authoritative sources (major banks’ business account requirements, FinCEN BOI FAQs, IRS/EIN guidance, state SOS/Good Standing guidance, and reputable legal/business guidance sites).

Search terms included: "LLC bank account documents", "bank CIP LLC requirements", "FinCEN BOI rule LLC banks", "IRS EIN verification letter CP 575", "Certificate of Good Standing [state]", "Chase LLC documents to open an account", "Bank of America LLC account documents", "Wells Fargo LLC account opening requirements". - Retrieved, compressed, and extracted relevant excerpts from major bank pages (Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo), FinCEN BOI FAQs, and reputable practice guides (IncNow, LegalZoom).

These cover typical document lists, KYC/AML/BOI expectations, state differences, and practical steps for domestic and foreign LLCs. Key findings (summarized) 1) Core documents banks commonly require to verify an LLC and open a business account - Proof of legal existence: Articles of Organization / Certificate of Formation / Certificate of Organization (state-filed formation document; often must be certified or stamped by the state). - Employer Identification Number (EIN): IRS EIN confirmation (CP 575) or EIN verification letter (147C).

Many banks require the EIN; single-member LLCs sometimes may be allowed to use owner’s SSN (policy varies by bank). - Operating Agreement or equivalent supplemental document: shows members/managers and who is authorized to act; banks use it to verify signers and beneficial owners. - Government-issued photo ID for all required signers and for beneficial owners (driver’s license, passport; foreign IDs accepted in some cases with supplemental documents). - Certificate of Good Standing / Certificate of Existence or similar: often requested for entities formed more than a year ago or when state validation is needed. - DBA / Trade Name / Fictitious Name filings (if doing business under another name). - Resolution, meeting minutes, or authorization statement: if an agent or non-owner will open the account or to evidence corporate action authorizing the account opening. - Supplemental ownership documentation: certified amendment, annual report, membership list, or other documents that list current members/managers when formation filing does not show owners (common for Delaware LLCs).

Research summary and collected guidance for: "Bank document preparation for LLC verification" (US businesses) Steps taken - Ran broad web searches targeting authoritative sources (major banks’ business account requirements, FinCEN BOI FAQs, IRS/EIN guidance, state SOS/Good Standing guidance, and reputable legal/business guidance sites).

Search terms included: "LLC bank account documents", "bank CIP LLC requirements", "FinCEN BOI rule LLC banks", "IRS EIN verification letter CP 575", "Certificate of Good Standing [state]", "Chase LLC documents to open an account", "Bank of America LLC account documents", "Wells Fargo LLC account opening requirements".

1) Core documents banks commonly require to verify an LLC and open a business account

575) or EIN verification letter (147C). Many banks require the EIN; single-member LLCs sometimes may be allowed to use owner’s SSN (policy varies by bank).

• Retrieved, compressed, and extracted relevant excerpts from major bank pages (Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo), FinCEN BOI FAQs, and reputable practice guides (IncNow, LegalZoom). These cover typical document lists, KYC/AML/BOI expectations, state differences, and practical steps for domestic and foreign LLCs. Key findings (summarized)
• Proof of legal existence: Articles of Organization / Certificate of Formation / Certificate of Organization (state-filed formation document; often must be certified or stamped by the state).
• Employer Identification Number (EIN): IRS EIN confirmation (CP
• Operating Agreement or equivalent supplemental document: shows members/managers and who is authorized to act; banks use it to verify signers and beneficial owners.
• Government-issued photo ID for all required signers and for beneficial owners (driver’s license, passport; foreign IDs accepted in some cases with supplemental documents).
• Certificate of Good Standing / Certificate of Existence or similar: often requested for entities formed more than a year ago or when state validation is needed.
• DBA / Trade Name / Fictitious Name filings (if doing business under another name).
• Resolution, meeting minutes, or authorization statement: if an agent or non-owner will open the account or to evidence corporate action authorizing the account opening.
• Supplemental ownership documentation: certified amendment, annual report, membership list, or other documents that list current members/managers when formation filing does not show owners (common for Delaware LLCs).

Regulatory context banks must follow (what drives document requests) - Bank customer due diligence (CDD) / Know Your Customer (KYC) and CIP under the Bank Secrecy Act and implementing rules drive banks to collect entity formation documents and personal identity for beneficial owners and controllers. - FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) rule introduces or reinforces reporting/verification of beneficial owners; banks collect ownership and control information to meet CDD obligations (FinCEN FAQ examples show BOI reporting obligations and updates).

Variation across banks and branches - Banks differ on thresholds and specifics

some banks reference collecting information for owners with 25%+ ownership (Bank of America), others list 10% thresholds for some entity types or products (Chase has 10% language in places). Acceptable documents and in-branch presence requirements also vary (some require all members/managers to be present for account opening; others accept notarized forms).

State-specific issues to plan for - States use different names for formation documents (Articles of Organization, Certificate of Formation, Certificate of Organization). Some states (e.g., Delaware) do not require member names in formation filings, so banks may request supplemental documentation (operating agreement, certified amendment, membership list) to identify owners. - Certificates of Good Standing / Existence are obtained from the state Secretary of State or equivalent; processes and fees vary by state. DBA/trade name filings are county- or state-based and rules vary (some states exempt certain filings).

Foreign LLCs / non-U.S. owners - Non-U.S. owners often face additional requirements (in-person identity verification, passport + secondary ID, apostilles/notarization and certified translations for foreign documents, proof of U.S. qualification if operating in-state). Policies vary by bank and branch.

Practical checklist / recommended preparatory steps for US LLCs - Gather certified Articles/Certificate of Formation (state-stamped copy). - Obtain and retain EIN confirmation (CP 575) or request IRS 147C if lost. - Prepare a signed Operating Agreement (showing members/managers and authorized signers). - Bring government-issued photo IDs for all signers and beneficial owners identified by the bank’s threshold. - If applicable, get a Certificate of Good Standing from your state and DBA/Fictitious Name filings. - Prepare a signed corporate resolution or account authorization naming who can open and access the account. - For foreign documents, get notarization/apostille and certified translations as required by the bank. - Call the intended bank/branch ahead to confirm their specific requirements and whether multiple owners must be present. Representative source excerpts and links (verbatim excerpts pulled during research) - Bank of America

"What you’ll need to apply: Business name & address... Business tax ID (EIN) or Social Security Number (SSN)... Personal information (i.e., SSN and DOB) for everyone on the application, including those with at least 25% or more ownership and the controlling manager of the business. ... Additional documents you may need... An organizing document prepared by the Limited Liability Company (LLC) and filed with the State providing evidence of legal status... Articles of Organization..." https://business.bankofamerica.com/en/deposits/checking-accounts/limited-liability-company-application-requirements - Chase: "LLCs will need one of the following: Articles of Organization... (must be registered, certified or stamped by appropriate state agency) ... Supplemental Documentation listing the current members or managers of the LLC (one of the following): Certified amendment to the articles of organization or certificate of formation; Operating agreement; Meeting minutes; Annual report or statement of information" https://www.chase.com/business/resources/business-bank-account-information - Wells Fargo: "You will be asked to complete and sign documentation that includes: Information about your business... Information about the owners of your business... A document to verify your business is registered with a government agency, such as Secretary of State or other state/county agency." https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/required-documents/ - FinCEN BOI FAQs: "...a reporting company that undergoes such a conversion may nonetheless be required to submit an updated BOI report... Reporting companies are also required to report their jurisdiction of formation. This is the jurisdiction where the reporting company was originally created." https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs - IncNow (practical guide): "An LLC needs to obtain an EIN number from the IRS in order to open a business bank account. ... Banks typically require the following documents to open a business account for an LLC: The LLC Operating Agreement... Certificate of Good Standing... Statement of Organizer..." https://www.incnow.com/blog/2025/08/07/how-to-open-bank-account-llc/ - LegalZoom: "For example, most banks will require that the primary applicant is a U.S. citizen and an owner of the LLC with a minimum of 25% ownership in the ..." https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-open-an-llc-bank-account Conclusions and next recommended actions for generating the blog/newsletter content - We have gathered sufficient authoritative source material (major banks, FinCEN, and practitioner guides) to create a comprehensive blog post and a newsletter draft that: (a) lists required documents by LLC type (single-member vs multi-member vs manager-managed), (b) explains the regulatory reasons (KYC/CIP/FinCEN BOI) behind each requirement, (c) gives state-specific notes (how to obtain Good Standing, Delaware privacy issue and supplemental docs), and (d) provides a practical pre-visit checklist and sample resolution language. - Next step: Use these findings to draft the requested content (blog content + newsletter) with state-aware notes for US businesses. If you want, I can now generate the full blog post, including a per-state quick-reference (for the 5 highlighted states: Delaware, California, New York, Texas, Florida), an actionable checklist, sample templates (account resolution, authorized signer statement), and SEO/meta sections. Please confirm if you want the full blog post + newsletter written now and whether to include state-by-state fine-grained instructions for all 50 states or just the five named states (Delaware, California, New York, Texas, Florida).