Opened a business checking account at a local Denver bank last week and they asked for my operating agreement. I'm a solo LLC, no partners. I didn't think I needed one. Is this normal here? They wouldn't open the account without it.
Banking
Why did my Denver bank ask for an operating agreement?
Banks have gotten stricter about entity documents since the Corporate Transparency Act stuff kicked in. They want to see who actually controls the company. For an LLC that usually means the operating agreement or at least articles of organization.
Did they say why? Mine just wanted articles and an EIN.
It's normal in Colorado. Even single single-member LLCs are expected to have one, even though the state doesn't technically require it to form. Banks use it to confirm signing authority.
You can write a simple one yourself. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just states you're the sole member and you have authority to open accounts.
They mentioned signing authority. I offered to just sign as owner but the teller said the the back office requires the document on file.
Teller probably can't override it. Compliance departments have their own checklist now. It's not personal.
Also worth checking if your LLC was formed through one of those online services. Some of them generate a boilerplate operating agreement and people forget they have it.
Sole member LLC here. I ran into the exact same thing at a credit union in Aurora. They accepted a one-page document I typed up. No notary needed.
Notary requirements vary by institution though. First Bank wanted mine notarized, Ent just wanted a signature.
The annoying part is that that there's no single standard. You end up carrying a folder of documents to every bank.
Does anyone know if they keep a copy? I'm not crazy about handing over internal governance documents to a bank.
They keep it on file. It's part of your account record. If you're worried, redact anything unrelated to account authority, but they may push back.
Appreciate the replies. I'll draft something simple this weekend and try again. Still feels like overkill for a one-person shop.
It does. But banks got burned too many times by people opening accounts under shell companies. So now everyone pays the paperwork tax.
One other thing, make sure the name on the operating agreement matches the name on your articles exactly. A missing LLC or period can get it kicked back.
And if you ever add a member later, update it before you go back to the bank. Otherwise you'll be doing this again.