Right to a Bank Account in Monaco

For an online business, the bank account is the part of the stack nobody talks about until it disappears. Stripe, Shopify Payments, Adyen and almost every other payment provider pay out to an account in the business's own name. No account, no payouts — and a store that cannot be paid is a store that is closed.

That is why a vote in Monaco's Conseil National in early October 2026 deserves the attention of founders and e-commerce operators, not just bankers. The National Council unanimously adopted Bill No. 1124, which amends Law No. 1.492 of 8 July 2020 establishing a right to a bank account. The reform is not yet in force: it still has to be promulgated and published in the Journal de Monaco, and no application date has been announced. This article explains what is changing, what is not, and what is worth preparing now.

What the 2020 law already provided

Law 1.492 created a "droit au compte" for individuals and legal entities with a connection to Monaco. In short, if you were refused an account, you could turn to the State to have a bank designated for you, which then had to provide a basic set of banking services. Banks kept the right to refuse in specific cases, notably where identity or beneficial ownership could not be verified under anti-money-laundering rules.

In practice, the mechanism had a weak point. It depended on having a formal refusal in hand. A bank that simply did not answer, or kept asking for one more document, left the applicant in limbo with nothing to escalate. The government's own summary of the reform says the aim is to make procedures clearer and timescales more predictable.

What Bill 1124 changes

Based on the government's announcement and reporting on the adopted text, the main changes are:

• Wider eligibility. The right now extends to people who hold only a joint account, and — importantly for businesses — to individuals and companies whose existing account is being closed.
• Deadlines for banks. A bank has 30 working days to ask for the documents it needs, and then a defined period to decide once the file is complete. Silence is treated as a refusal.
• Escalation without a formal refusal. If the bank does not respond in time, the applicant can go to the Direction du Budget et du Trésor, which must then designate a bank within 10 working days.
• Reasons for refusal. Banks must explain a refusal, unless doing so would compromise national security or public order.
• Sanctions and fast-track appeals. Administrative fines of up to €10,000 are reported for non-compliant banks, and a faster court procedure before the President of the Court of First Instance is available against refusals or closures.

What does not change: banks keep all their obligations on money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation and corruption. The reform makes the process enforceable; it does not lower the bar for due diligence.

Why this matters for digital businesses

Monaco-based online businesses have had a difficult few years with banks and payment providers. The FATF grey listing in June 2024 led many institutions to tighten onboarding and review existing relationships — we covered the payment side in our article on Monaco's possible grey-list exit. Agencies, e-commerce brands, SaaS start-ups and crypto-adjacent businesses were among those who found accounts slow to open or suddenly under review.

The inclusion of accounts being terminated is the most practical change for these businesses. An account closure is not just a banking problem: it cuts off payouts from your payment provider, breaks direct debits for software subscriptions, and can freeze an online shop in the middle of a season. A clearer path to a replacement account, with deadlines attached, reduces that risk.

What the reform will not solve

It is worth being realistic. The right to an account guarantees a basic set of services, not a full commercial relationship. From what has been published, nothing suggests it obliges a bank to provide card acquiring, multi-currency accounts or credit lines, and it does not oblige payment providers to onboard you. Whether specific services are covered is a question to put to your bank or lawyer once the final text is published.

It also does not apply yet. Until the law is promulgated, the current procedure remains the reference.

How to prepare now

Most of the delays businesses suffer come from incomplete or inconsistent files. Whatever happens with the law, these steps shorten the process:

1. Keep a current KYB pack. Statutes, RCI extract, register of beneficial owners, proof of address, ID for directors, recent accounts, and a one-page description of your business model and payment flows.
2. Make your website match your file. Compliance teams look at your site. Your legal notice, company details, terms of sale, refund policy and product descriptions should match what you tell the bank. A professional, transparent site built with your e-commerce setup in mind is part of your due-diligence file.
3. Document everything with dates. When you apply, keep written proof of when you submitted documents and when the bank replied. Under the new procedure, those dates are what allow you to escalate.
4. Avoid single points of failure. Where possible, keep a second payout route or a backup account, and know how long it would take to switch providers on your Shopify or custom checkout.

What to watch next

Three things in the coming weeks: promulgation of the law and publication in the Journal de Monaco, any implementing texts that set the detailed timelines, and the FATF plenary expected at the end of October, which could change how banks view Monaco-based clients. None of these is guaranteed, and banking law is specialist territory, so check the final text with your bank or a Monaco legal adviser before relying on it.

If banking friction has been holding back your online projects, now is a good moment to review your payment architecture as part of a broader digital strategy.

Want your website, checkout and compliance pages to be ready when the banks come asking? Get in touch.