Opening a non-resident account in Serbia represents an important legal and practical step for foreign natural and legal persons who wish to conduct business, manage funds, or carry out certain financial transactions in the Republic of Serbia. Non-residents are legally permitted to open a non-resident account in the Republic of Serbia. The provisions of Article 28 of the Foreign Exchange Operations Act (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 62/2006, 31/2011, 119/2012, 139/2014, 30/2018 and 19/2025) prescribe that a non-resident may hold foreign currency and dinars in an account with a bank without restrictions, in accordance with the Foreign Exchange Operations Act, and that the National Bank of Serbia prescribes the conditions under which banks may open accounts for non-residents and the manner of maintaining those accounts.
The Decision on the Conditions for Opening and the Manner of Maintaining Foreign Currency Accounts of Residents, as well as Dinar and Foreign Currency Accounts of Non-Residents (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 51/2015, 82/2017, 69/2018 and 96/2018) prescribes the more detailed conditions under which banks open foreign currency accounts for residents and foreign currency and dinar accounts for non-residents, as well as the manner of maintaining and closing those accounts.
Types of non-resident accounts
A non-resident account is an account opened by a bank for a non-resident, i.e. a person who does not have the status of a resident of the Republic of Serbia, and it may be a foreign currency account in which the non-resident’s foreign currency funds are held, or a dinar account in which the non-resident’s dinar funds are held.
Both foreign currency and dinar accounts may be current accounts or deposit accounts. A current account is a foreign currency or dinar account used to execute payment transactions and for other purposes related to the services that banks provide to users of payment services. A deposit account is a foreign currency or dinar account opened under a deposit agreement and may be demand- or term-based, with or without a notice period, for a specific purpose or without a designated purpose.
In addition to current and deposit accounts, a bank may also open and maintain other accounts for residents and non-residents in accordance with the concluded agreement.
Like other users of payment services, two or more non-residents may also open a joint current or deposit account.
Procedure for opening a non-resident account
Banks open non-resident accounts based on a request submitted by the non-resident or where this is prescribed by law or another regulation.
A bank opens a dinar or foreign currency account based on a written request for the opening of such account and a concluded framework agreement on payment services governing the conditions for opening, maintaining, and closing a current account (hereinafter: framework agreement), i.e. a deposit agreement or an agreement governing the conditions for opening, maintaining, and closing another account (hereinafter: agreement on maintaining another account). The request may be submitted on paper or another durable data medium within the meaning of the law governing payment services.
The framework agreement and the agreement on maintaining another account shall be concluded in written form on paper or another durable data medium.
The framework agreement contains the elements, i.e. information prescribed by the law governing payment services, while other matters related to that agreement shall be subject to the provisions of that law, the law governing foreign exchange operations, the law governing obligations, and the Decision on the Conditions for Opening and the Manner of Maintaining Foreign Currency Accounts of Residents, as well as Dinar and Foreign Currency Accounts of Non-Residents (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 51/2015, 82/2017, 69/2018 and 96/2018). If the framework agreement concluded with a legal entity excludes or limits the application of the provisions of the law governing payment services relating to the content of the framework agreement, such agreement must contain those elements, i.e. information prescribed for a deposit agreement or an agreement on maintaining another account.
In addition to the elements, i.e. information determined by the law governing obligations and other laws, the deposit agreement shall contain the following elements, i.e. information:
- the number and title of the account being opened;
- the method and deadlines for delivery of reports on transactions and account balances;
- the method of calculation and payment of interest and the currency in which the principal and interest are paid;
- conditions for termination of the agreement;
- the obligation of the resident to notify the bank of status and other changes;
- elements and information from the deposit agreement determined by the law governing the protection of users of financial services, if the depositor is a user of financial services within the meaning of that law.
Other matters relating to the deposit agreement shall be governed by the provisions of the law on foreign exchange operations, other laws, and the Decision on the Conditions for Opening and the Manner of Maintaining Foreign Currency Accounts of Residents, as well as Dinar and Foreign Currency Accounts of Non-Residents (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 51/2015, 82/2017, 69/2018 and 96/2018), and, if the depositor is a user of financial services, also by the provisions of the law governing the protection of users of financial services.
In addition to the elements, i.e. information prescribed for a deposit agreement, the agreement on maintaining another account shall also contain information on the purpose for opening that account.
Exceptionally, a bank may open an account for a non-resident if this is prescribed by law or another regulation, and if a bank opens a non-resident account for another bank that is a non-resident, it may do so in the manner customary in banking practice, as well as based on exchanged control documents in accordance with the established communication system between banks.
When opening, maintaining, and closing accounts, the bank is obliged to comply with the regulations governing the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
When opening an account, the bank is obliged to obtain all data which, in accordance with regulations, it is required to submit to the National Bank of Serbia for the purpose of maintaining the Unified Register of Accounts in accordance with the provisions of the law governing payment services.
Required documentation for opening a non-resident account
Non-resident accounts of business entities
In addition to the request for opening an account, non-resident legal entities shall submit the following documentation to the bank:
- an extract from the register in which the non-resident is registered in the state where it has its registered seat or, if it was established in a state where registration in such a register is not performed, another appropriate incorporation document on the basis of which the legal form of the non-resident and the date of its establishment may be determined;
- an extract from the law or another regulation if the non-resident account is being opened on that basis;
- a document issued by the competent authority containing the tax identification number of the non-resident legal entity, if that non-resident is a taxpayer of the Republic of Serbia;
- a specimen signature card of persons authorised to dispose of funds in the non-resident account or another document granting a certain person authorisation to dispose of funds in this account;
- The signature of the authorised person of the non-resident certified by the competent authority – unless this person is present when submitting the request for opening the account, and the specimen signature card of persons authorised to dispose of funds in the non-resident account.
Together with the request for opening a non-resident account of a foreign diplomatic or consular mission in the Republic of Serbia, the following documentation shall be submitted:
- an extract from the register of diplomatic and consular missions published on the website of the ministry responsible for foreign affairs;
- a specimen signature card of persons authorised to dispose of funds in the non-resident account or another document granting a certain person authorisation to dispose of funds in this account, signed by the authorised representative of that mission.
Documentation submitted to the bank together with the request for opening a non-resident account, if in a foreign language, shall be submitted together with a certified translation into the Serbian language. The documentation shall also be submitted to the bank in original form or as a copy certified by the competent authority and may not be older than three months.
Non-resident accounts of natural persons
A bank opens a non-resident account for a natural person on the basis of a request for opening that account and a concluded framework agreement or deposit agreement. The request for opening a non-resident account shall be submitted in written form on paper or another durable data medium. If the request for opening a non-resident account is submitted to the bank electronically, the bank, in accordance with its general terms and conditions, is not obliged to require the natural person to sign that request.
In addition to the request for opening a non-resident account, prior to concluding the agreement, the natural person shall present to the bank an identity document establishing his/her identity (identity card, passport, or another valid document with a photograph), as well as a document from which his/her place of permanent or temporary residence during the previous year may be determined.
A bank opens an account for a minor on the basis of a framework agreement or deposit agreement concluded, in the name and on behalf of that person, by his/her legal representative.
A bank also opens an account for a natural person on the basis of a court or administrative act, in which case the agreement on opening that account is concluded by the person authorised under that act.
If the bank has opened a foreign currency current account for a natural person, it shall issue that person a registration card, and if it has opened a foreign currency deposit account, it shall issue a registration card or a foreign currency savings passbook.
Obligation to open a non-resident account
According to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Operations Act (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 62/2006, 31/2011, 119/2012, 139/2014, 30/2018 and 19/2025), as well as the Decision on the Conditions for Opening and the Manner of Maintaining Foreign Currency Accounts of Residents, as well as Dinar and Foreign Currency Accounts of Non-Residents (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 51/2015, 82/2017, 69/2018 and 96/2018), non-residents have the possibility, but not the obligation, to open a non-resident account with a bank in the Republic of Serbia, because the texts of the aforementioned Act and Decision do not contain any provision of a mandatory nature prescribing such an obligation for non-residents.
The obligation to open non-resident accounts may be prescribed by another law. Examples of some situations where there is a legal obligation to open a non-resident account include:
- for the purposes of trading in securities – the obligation exists pursuant to the provisions of applicable regulations, as a condition for participation in the market and for acquiring and disposing of rights arising from securities;
- for a representative office of a foreign company – a representative office of a foreign legal entity in the Republic of Serbia operates through the non-resident account of its founder and under the authority of the founder, and the non-resident account opened with a bank in the country is held in the name of the foreign legal entity that is the founder of the representative office. The obligation of the foreign legal entity that is the founder of the representative office indirectly arises from the provisions of the Companies Act, which prescribe that a representative office of a foreign company does not have the status of a legal entity and may perform only preliminary and preparatory activities for the purpose of concluding legal transactions of the foreign company, which is the founder of the representative office in the Republic of Serbia.
- In the case where a non-resident sells its share in a resident legal entity to another resident, the non-resident may receive payment from the resident on the basis of the sale of the share in the resident legal entity only through its dinar non-resident account opened with a bank in the Republic of Serbia, without the possibility for the payment to be made directly to the non-resident’s account abroad. Given that this concerns a capital transaction carried out in the Republic of Serbia, Article 34 of the Foreign Exchange Operations Act (“Official Gazette of the RS”, Nos. 62/2006, 31/2011, 119/2012, 139/2014, 30/2018 and 19/2025) does not provide an exception allowing payments in the Republic of Serbia to be made in foreign currency.
Read more:
Capital transactions according to Law on foreign currency transactions »
Conditions and methods of financing foreign business »
Registration of the representative office in Serbia »
