The Banking Advice Circulating in LatAm Founder Communities Is Now Wrong

Mercury updated its compliance requirements in 2026 and no longer accepts registered agent addresses as valid business locations. Accounts built on that setup are now at review risk. When a closure notice arrives, it typically freezes your funds for up to 60 days.

I spent years on the other side of the credit desk. I know how these notices are written: brief, formal, and easy to miss on a Friday afternoon. By the time most founders call us, the review is already open.

What changed in 2026

The US Corporate Transparency Act took full effect in January 2024. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released its final beneficial ownership rules alongside it. Banks responded by tightening how they verify the physical location of a business. Mercury’s updated policy reflects that change. A registered agent address, the kind that comes standard with most formation packages, no longer satisfies Mercury’s location verification standard.

A post mapping Mercury’s prohibited-countries list has spread across LinkedIn and X this week. The list includes several LatAm markets where correspondent banking restrictions create compliance difficulty for the bank, not for the founder. Venezuela appears on that list because of US Treasury restrictions on Venezuelan financial institutions. Those restrictions are separate from whether Venezuelan citizens can legally do business in the United States. They can.

growthhq.io published a detailed account-closure guide this week that explains the mechanics. The 60-day hold is not a Mercury policy invention. It comes from Bank Secrecy Act procedures that require a bank to complete its compliance examination before releasing funds. That window does not shorten because you call the bank.

Who is at risk right now

Three situations put your account at review risk. First, the address on your Mercury account is a registered agent address, not a real business location. Second, your country of residence appears on Mercury’s compliance-restricted list. Third, a formation platform selected or submitted your address on your behalf and you never confirmed what was on file.

If any of these apply, check your account this week. Mercury’s first-phase review is automated, which means a notice can arrive on a Friday evening with no prior warning.

The institutions that actually work in 2026

The platforms that route founders to Mercury rarely update their recommendations when compliance rules change. Here is what works today, by situation.

Relay Financial works with US LLCs formed by non-residents. It does not require a physical US address when you can document your business activity. Relay has processed accounts for founders from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina without the friction that Mercury now creates for international filers.

Wise Business is not a bank, but it holds a money services license and provides USD accounts that work for most international business payments. For founders from Venezuela, Wise is often the most realistic path. It applies its own KYC process directly. It does not route through the US correspondent banking network, which is where most accounts flagged for Venezuelan origin encounter delays and automatic denials.

NBKC Bank serves international founders through its fintech partnerships. The application requires complete documentation: a valid passport, an IRS EIN letter, articles of organization, and a signed operating agreement. That process takes two to four weeks, longer than Mercury’s, but the account is stable and does not carry the same address-policy risk.

What a Miami banking relationship provides that no platform does

Every formation platform gives you a legal entity and a bank referral. What they cannot give you is a relationship with someone who has sat on the other side of the approval desk.

When Leirós Consulting works with a client on banking, we know which institution is accepting founders from your country right now. We know what documentation format they prefer. We know how to position your file before it reaches a compliance officer. That knowledge comes from years in the business, not from a website.

The founders who open accounts in two weeks instead of two months are not luckier. They are better prepared, and they have someone in the room who already knows the people on the other side.

What to do this week

Start by pulling your bank account registration documents and confirming which address is on file.

If that address belongs to a registered agent, log into your account and look for any pending notices or messages from the compliance team.

If your account is already under review, or if you have not yet opened a US account and your country appears on Mercury’s restricted list, speak to us before applying anywhere new. Submitting to the wrong institution on incomplete documentation starts a clock you do not want running.

If you are not sure which institution fits your situation, book a call. We will tell you in 15 minutes.

FAQ

My Mercury account is active today. Do I need to do anything?

Not urgently, but confirming which address is on file takes less than five minutes. Accounts that have operated for years can still enter a compliance review when a bank updates its standards. A proactive check costs nothing. A 60-day fund freeze costs real cash flow.

Can founders from Venezuela open a US bank account in 2026?

Yes. OFAC sanctions on Venezuelan financial institutions do not prohibit Venezuelan citizens from banking in the United States. The difficulty is that many US banks apply a blanket high-risk flag to Venezuelan-origin accounts to avoid the extra compliance work. Wise Business and certain NBKC-partnered accounts have processed Venezuelan founder accounts with complete documentation. The process is slower, but the path is open.

Does using Stripe Atlas or Firstbase solve the banking problem?

It solves the formation problem. Those platforms produce a valid legal entity and sometimes a bank referral. They do not produce a banking relationship, and their referral partners change as compliance rules evolve. The founders who hit a wall after formation are typically the ones who assumed the bank account would follow automatically. It does not always.

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