why does the bank want to know how many staff I have

Number of employees is a risk indicator, not an accounting question

The bank usually asks this as part of client due diligence under the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Wwft). The number of employees indicates something about the size and complexity of the enterprise, and the bank uses this to determine a risk profile: what level of control is appropriate for this company. A sole proprietorship receives a different regime than an enterprise with one hundred employees, even if the turnover is comparable. The figure itself is therefore not the goal — it is one of the building blocks the bank uses to calibrate the rest of the investigation, together with questions about the source of the company's assets and the ownership structure.

Sometimes the question also appears in a list that goes beyond Wwft purposes alone, for example when the bank reports under the CSRD directive (Directive 2022/2464) and needs the number of employees to determine whether your enterprise counts as a small, medium or large entity in their own supply chain reporting. In that case it is not a risk question but a classification question. The answer usually matches the number of employees as stated with the Chamber of Commerce or in the most recently filed annual accounts; check if in doubt the annual accounts of the company have been filed, because that figure is the most verifiable source the bank can consult.

Legal basis: Wwft client due diligence and Trade Register Act

The Wwft client due diligence requires banks to assess the nature and extent of their business relationship, and the number of employees is a common indicator of company size in this context. In addition, the number of employees is data that under the Trade Register Act 2007 is already recorded with the Chamber of Commerce, which explains why banks often consider this figure easy to verify and rarely dispute it.