Frequently Asked Questions
Hokodo is Europe’s leading provider of Digital Trade Credit solutions for B2B commerce, backed by AIG.
By partnering with Hokodo, merchants are able to offer payment terms to the majority of their customers, while protecting all parties from risk. Our operations team is based in London, Paris, and Vilnius and our working hours are 9am - 6pm local time, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).
Merchant risk refers to the potential financial loss if a merchant doesn't meet their financial obligations. This risk can arise from delayed payments, merchandise returns, or insufficient information about the merchant's financial health. At Hokodo, we manage this risk by assessing financial stability, setting credit limits, monitoring transactions, and requesting updated financial information. This helps us protect both you and us by ensuring financial stability and reducing potential losses due to defaults or payment delays.
At Hokodo, we extend credit terms to merchants, which creates a financial exposure for us. This exposure refers to the open and unpaid amounts that the merchant owes. If a merchant fails to meet their financial obligations, it poses a risk to us.
- For instance, if a merchant delays payment, it impacts our cash flow and financial stability until the payment is made.
- Additionally, merchandise returns or disputes can create uncertainty and potential financial loss: the merchant has the returned merchandise and the cash from the sale, as Hokodo paid for it.
To manage this exposure, we assess the merchant’s financial health, set credit limits, monitor transactions, and request updated financial information. These steps help us mitigate the financial threats posed by merchants who may default or delay payments, ensuring the financial protection of both parties involved.Sometimes, insufficient or outdated information about the merchant's financial health makes it challenging to accurately assess the risk and set appropriate credit limits. That's why Hokodo may request your financial information directly.
KYC stands for Know Your Customer, and it is an essential anti money laundering requirement for financial institutions, including electronic money institutions and insurance intermediaries as Hokodo. The purpose of KYC is to gain and maintain sufficient knowledge about our customers to effectively prevent and detect financial crimes and protect our customers. As such we are required to request from you the documents listed below.
We also request that you share some of your financial data -a detailed list will be provided before the onboarding-. It is very important to us that we partner with reliable customers, as there may be situations during our partnership where you owe Hokodo money. Therefore we need to know that you can meet the obligations you may have toward us. This will also enable Hokodo to design tailored financial solutions to your needs and manage potential risks based on the insight gained from your financial data.
Your privacy is of utmost importance to us, and all information you provide will be treated with strict confidentiality. Specifically financial documents will be stored in our secured environment and will only be used for assessing the creditworthiness of your business. We commit to not share this information with any other members outside of Hokodo.
The Bank of Lithuania has prepared a leaflet with detailed answers to the most frequently asked questions in this area.
For security reasons, only the following document types are accepted: PDF, JPG, JPEG et PNG. Please note that these are basic business-related documents, and in certain circumstances, we may request you to verify specific details about your business and/or provide additional documents.
Select a country in the menu below to find out what documents are required:
For Belgium
- Extract from companies register and the date of its issuance (not older than 3 months)
- Article of association
- Proof of identity of the Director: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Extract of the UBO Register
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For Denmark
- Extract from companies register and the date of its issuance (not older than 3 months)
- Article of association
- Proof of identity of the Director: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Extract of the UBO Register
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For France
- A certificate of incorporation (Kbis) dated less than three months old
- Statuts of the company
- UBO document:
- Companies created after January 2023: an official Copie intégrale des informations déclarées.
- Companies created between January 2021 and December 2022: a Déclaration Relative au(x) Bénéficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Société (Cerfa 16062*01).
- Companies created before January 2021: a Document Relatif au Bénéficiaire Effectif (DBE-S-1).
- A valid identification document of the legal representative of the company: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- A valid identification document for each beneficial owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For Germany
- Extract from companies register and the date of its issuance (not older than 3 months)
- Proof of identity of the Director: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Article of association (Gesellschaftsvertrag or Gründungsurkunde, the latest signed version.)
- Extract of the UBO Register
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For Italy
- Extract from companies register and the date of its issuance : Visura Camerale from the Chamber of Commerce, not older than 3 months.
- Article of association (Statuto sociale (articles) or Atto costitutivo (deed of incorporation), the latest signed version.)
- Proof of identity of the Director: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Extract of the UBO Register (a Visura Ordinaria Società di Capitale)
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet).
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For Lithuania
- Extract from companies register and the date of its issuance (not older than 3 months)
- A valid identification document of the director of the company: national identity card (both sides), or passport
- Extract of the UBO Register
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For Netherlands
- Certificate of incorporation: KvK uittreksel from the Chamber of Commerce, not older than 3 months.
- Article of association: Statuten (statutes)
- Proof of identity of the Legal Representative: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Extract of the UBO Register
- Proof of identity OF EACH Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
For Spain
- One of the following document (not older than 3 months):
- Extract from the Registro Mercantil Central
- Extract from the Registradores de Espana (Información General Mercantil)
- Modelo 600 (Sociedad Civil only)
- Article of association (Escrituras (statutes), the latest signed version.)
- Proof of identity of the Director: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Extract of the UBO Register (an official Informe De Titularidad Real De Personas Jurídicas)
- Proof of identity of each Ultimate Beneficial Owner: national identity card (both sides), or passport.
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
For the UK
- A valid identification document of the legal representative of the company: national identity card (both sides), or passport
- A valid identification document for each beneficial owner: national identity card (both sides), passport, driving licence (card format, both sides)
- Most recent full financial statements (including P&L and balance sheet)
- For multilayered shareholding structures (2 or more), an organisational chart presenting the entire structure must also be provided. This chart must be dated and signed by the legal representative, and must include the names and registration numbers of the companies as well as the percentage of ownership of each. For companies ultimately owned by a listed company, it will be required to show the full shareholding structure and add the proof of listing to the related stock market for the listed entity.
An Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) is someone who owns or controls your company. They’re sometimes called ‘Person with significant control (PSC).
We need you to disclose your UBOs and tell us who they are. This might be you, or someone associated with your company. A company can have one or more UBOs. If you cannot identify your UBO, or do not have one, you need to tell us.
Most UBOs are those who hold:
(i) more than 25% of shares in the company
(ii) more than 25% of voting rights in the company
(iii) the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors
If you do not meet conditions (i) to (iii) you may identify your UBO with another condition: significant influence or control over the company.
A person would exercise “significant influence or control” if:
(a) They are significantly involved in the management and direction of the company, for example: A person, who is not a member of the board of directors, but regularly or consistently directs or influences a significant section of the board, or is regularly consulted on board decisions and whose views influence decisions made by the board. This would include a person who falls within the definition of “shadow director”, but the situation is not confined to shadow directors.
(b) Their recommendations are always or almost always followed by shareholders who hold the majority of the voting rights in the company, when they are deciding how to vote. For example: A company founder who no longer has a significant shareholding in the company they started, but makes recommendations to the other shareholders on how to vote and those recommendations are always or almost always followed.
Hokodo uses Veriff, Ondato and Heliocor as a transfer tool, which is dedicated to the highest standard of privacy and information security requirements to ensure secure handling of personal data.
Hokodo will share with you a link in order to verify the authenticity of your personal information as part of the KYC process. You will be asked to provide a photo of your ID, and a selfie, which should not take longer than 3 minutes.
Please don't hesitate to let us know about your concerns. You can reach out to us by emailing support@hokodo.co and we'll do everything we can to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
If you have signed a Merchant agreement with UAB Hokodo, please refer below to our complaint handling rule: Client complaint handling rule and Complaint form.
If you signed a merchant agreement with Hokodo SAS or Hokodo Services Ltd, please contact support@hokodo.co
- If we have collected payment from a buyer but have not yet paid you, those funds will be "safeguarded" in a regulated, ring-fenced account.
- Hokodo is required to protect client funds that it holds for the beneficial use of its clients (the Merchants) in the event Hokodo was to go into liquidation or insolvent.
- Funds received on behalf of Merchants can only be used to complete a payment as instructed or, should that prove to be impossible, the funds are returned to the original payer.
- Our third party payment service provider or our EMI cannot use client funds in the way that a bank can - a deposit at a bank account is treated as a ‘loan’ to the bank, and the bank is able to use a client’s funds to make a return for themselves.
You can find the General Terms for HUAB from 25/01/2024 here.