why must I provide so many documents to my bank

Client due diligence must be repeated periodically, not only at account opening

The bank does not ask for increasingly more, but repeatedly: client due diligence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act is not a one-time check when opening the account, but an ongoing obligation. As soon as something changes in the structure, activities or risk profile of the enterprise, the bank must update the file. This explains why the same questions — who controls the enterprise, where the money comes from, who it does business with — come up regularly, even if there is little material change.

What often feels like "increasingly more" is in practice a combination of three things: a periodic reassessment that has lapsed, a change at the enterprise itself such as a new director or shareholder, and tightening of internal risk policy at the bank following supervision. Questions about who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the company and about the source of the company's assets are part of the core of this due diligence and therefore come up most frequently, sometimes with a different wording than the previous time.

Where this follows from: the AMLCFT Act and the commercial register

Client due diligence under the Wwft requires the bank to establish and keep current the identity and risk profile of a client — the latter is the basis for repeated requests. Part of the requested data, such as directors and place of establishment, is already recorded in the business register under the Business Register Act 2007, but the bank must verify this itself and may not simply rely on the register. Questions specifically about politically exposed persons, as covered in or whether a director or beneficial owner is a politically exposed person, follow from the same Wwft system of enhanced due diligence.