Bank account frozen? Here is what to do.

Stay calm and do not start moving money around through friends' or relatives' accounts. Unusual workarounds during a review look exactly like the activity the bank is checking for, and can turn a temporary restriction into a closure or a report.

Contact the bank in writing, through secure messaging or a letter, and ask three things: what is restricted (incoming, outgoing or both), what information they need from you, and where to send it. Keep a dated record of every call and message. Then list everything due in the next two weeks — payroll, rent, suppliers, tax — so you know what must be covered from somewhere else.

Most freezes come from the bank's own anti-money-laundering and fraud checks: a large or unusual payment, money arriving from a new country or platform, a mismatch between your stated business and your actual transactions, or an overdue know-your-customer refresh. Others come from outside the bank, such as a court order, a tax authority demand, or a freezing order obtained by police or prosecutors.

Banks often cannot tell you the full reason. Where they suspect money laundering they may be legally prevented from saying so. A short or vague answer is normal and is not, by itself, a sign that you are in trouble.

There is no single answer. A routine review where the bank simply wants documents is often resolved within days to a few weeks once complete evidence is supplied. Where a report to the authorities is involved, the timeline depends on that process rather than the bank. Freezes made under a court or authority order last as long as the order does.

What shortens a review is a complete, consistent file the first time: invoices and contracts behind the flagged payments, an explanation of your business model in plain language, and proof of where the money came from. What lengthens it is partial answers and repeated back-and-forth.

Prepare one organised pack: company documents and ownership, a one-page description of what the business sells and to whom, the invoices or contracts behind the transactions in question, statements from the platforms or processors that paid you, and source-of-funds or source-of-wealth evidence for larger amounts. Answer exactly what was asked, and nothing contradictory.

If you have a complaint about how the freeze is handled, use the bank's formal complaints process first. In the UK an unresolved complaint can then go to the Financial Ombudsman Service; other countries have their own ombudsman or supervisor routes.

This is where Xavion helps. In a free consultation we look at what is frozen, what payments are due, and your business model, and we tell you plainly what is realistic. Where a second account is appropriate, we prepare the application and place it with a suitable bank or payment institution from our network, including our own banking partner for high-risk and crypto businesses.

A new account is never a way around an ongoing review. Any new provider must be told the truth about the existing freeze, and we only proceed where the case can be presented honestly. If your case is not one we can help with, we will say so in the first conversation.