Physical Exchange Office in Czech Republic

To carry out activities such as:

1. cash currency exchange and
2. exchange of non-cash funds or electronic money denominated in a certain currency into cash, if the client, of course, gave a payment order to transfer such funds through an exchanger,

a legal entity must obtain permission to operate as an exchange office from the Central Bank of the Czech Republic.

What verification must founders undergo?

The founders, as well as the applicant, exchange managers and beneficial owners must provide the following documents:

1. A certificate of good conduct (from the country of which the person is a citizen, as well as from the country where the person has lived for more than 6 months over the past 3 years).

2. Information about the person’s professional and business reputation for the last 10 years, which may include:

• a certificate confirming the conduct of any investigation related to the business activity of a person, or even the existence of a final decision on the imposition of punishment for an offense in this area;

• bankruptcy decision;

• revocation of a license or ban on a person’s business activities;

• exclusion from professional association without the initiative of a person.

3. Confirmation of the qualifications of the manager who actually manages the exchange office. In the Czech Republic, a certificate of completion of secondary education is sufficient.

What documents are required to register a legal entity?

In order to be able to draw up powers of attorney and related documents for remote registration of a legal entity in the Czech Republic, the following information is required:

• Completed and signed KYC form.

• Two identification documents of directors and founders of the company – (this can be a passport + ID/driver’s license or a document convenient for you).

• Registration address of directors and founders with attached proof of address. To confirm your address, you can provide a certificate from a bank or utility service.

• 3 desired company names.

What’s next?

After all the previous steps, you will be fully equipped to obtain permission to open an exchanger. The supervisory authority requests a fairly standard set of documents for this:

• Information about the actual place of business, because according to the law, exchange offices in the Czech Republic cannot operate without premises.

• Diplomas and any other certificates confirming the professional qualifications of the manager in charge of the exchange office  in fact.

• A certificate of good conduct for the director/beneficial owners of the company (from the country of which this person is a citizen, as well as from the country where this person has resided for more than 6 months during the last 3 years) not older than 3 months.

• Questionnaire to assess the integrity of the applicant, managers and beneficial owners – the questionnaire form is provided by the Central Bank of the Czech Republic.

• Description of future activities – what currencies you plan to work with, expected volumes of work, etc.

And remember!

All documents must be submitted to the supervisory authority in Czech language. Therefore, take into account the costs of document translation when opening your own exchange office in the Czech Republic. 

We will be glad to assist You in such an exciting journey caring for all legal concerns while You can focus on scaling of Your business.

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