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Change account administrator

Change the legal representative who administers a company's Swan accounts. Swan reviews the request, collects documents, and sets the new administrator as the legal representative on all of the account holder's accounts.

info

Account administrator changes are only available for company account holders. Individual accounts and self-employed account holders aren't eligible.

Overview​

An account administrator change applies to all accounts belonging to the same account holder. There can only be one ongoing change per account holder at a time.

The form used to submit the request is unauthenticated, meaning the requester doesn't need to be an existing account member. This allows third parties, such as a company secretary, to submit the request.

Eligibility​

To be eligible for an account administrator change, the account holder must meet all of the following conditions:

ConditionRequirement
Account holder typeCompany
Company subtypeCompany, Association, HomeOwnerAssociation, or Other (not SelfEmployed)
Verification statusVerified
Existing change requestNo ongoing account administrator change (status Ongoing, Pending, WaitingForInformation, or InvitationSent)

Walkthrough​

Step 1: Initiate the request​

Submit a Swan Support request with the account holder information (IBAN or account holder name).

  • This process is not yet self-service in the Dashboard. All requests go through Swan Support to keep all exchanges in a single Zendesk ticket.
  • Swan processes the request, creates the account administrator change, and generates a form URL.
  • Swan shares the form URL with you (the partner) to forward to the requester. Partners can't generate this URL themselves.
  • The form URL is valid for 7 calendar days. After expiry, the status moves to Expired, the supporting document collection is Canceled, and a new request must be initiated.

Step 2: Submit the request form​

The requester opens the form URL and submits the following information:

  • Requester details (if the requester is different from the new administrator).
  • New account administrator details.
  • Reason for the change.
  • Required supporting documents.

Because the form is unauthenticated, any third party can fill it (for example, a company secretary or an outgoing legal representative who no longer has account access).

Step 3: Swan reviews the request​

After submission, the status moves to Pending. Swan's Know Your Customer (KYC) team reviews the submitted documents.

  • If additional information is needed, the status moves to WaitingForInformation. Swan generates a new dedicated document upload URL and shares it with you via the support ticket. The requester can no longer use the original form link at this stage.
  • After the additional documents are uploaded, the status returns to Pending and the review resumes.

Step 4: New administrator receives an invitation​

After documents are validated, Swan invites the new administrator to join all accounts belonging to the account holder. The invitation grants full permissions: canViewAccount, canInitiatePayments, canManageAccountMembership, canManageBeneficiaries, and canManageCards (all true).

After accepting the invitation, the new administrator is automatically directed to Swan's identity verification flow. No manual link sharing is needed.

Invitation not received?

If the new administrator doesn't receive the invitation, you can resend it using the sendAccountMembershipInviteNotification mutation. The membership status must be InvitationSent, and you can send up to 5 invitations per day, or contact Swan support via the support ticket.

Before Swan can set the new administrator as the legal representative, they must have the required identification level for their IBAN country.

IBAN countryRequired identification level
France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, SpainExpert
GermanyQES (Qualified Electronic Signature)

What happens next depends on the new administrator's current identification level:

  • No prior identification: Swan guides the new administrator through the appropriate identification process automatically after they accept the invitation.
  • Lower identification level than required: Swan support reaches out with a link to complete the appropriate process. The status remains InvitationSent until the required level is achieved.
  • Already has the required level: Swan sets them as the legal representative immediately.

Once the account membership is Enabled on all accounts, Swan sets the new administrator as the legal representative on all accounts. The status moves to Verified and the supporting document collection moves to Approved.

Step 6: Clean up account access​

Swan doesn't automatically remove or downgrade the previous administrator. Their membership and permissions remain unchanged.

The new administrator should review the previous administrator's access and decide how to proceed:

Statuses​

Final statuses
Expired
Verified
Refused
Account admin
change created
Ongoing
Pending
WaitingFor
Information
InvitationSent
StatusExplanation
OngoingThe change request was created. The requester must submit the form within 7 calendar days.
PendingSwan's KYC team is reviewing the submitted form. No action is required from the requester.
WaitingForInformationSwan's KYC team requested additional information or documents. Swan shares a new supporting document collection URL with you to forward to the requester. The original form URL can no longer be used at this stage.
InvitationSentSwan's KYC team invited the new administrator to the accounts. The new administrator must accept the invitation and verify their identity. This status is skipped if the new administrator already has access to the accounts.
ExpiredFinal. The form wasn't submitted within 7 calendar days. The requester needs to start a new request.
VerifiedFinal. Swan set the new administrator as the legal representative on all accounts.
RefusedFinal. The KYC team refused the request. No changes were made.
warning

When a change request expires, all form data becomes inaccessible. Swan doesn't retain the personal information entered on the expired form.

Reasons for change​

When submitting the form, the requester selects a reason for the change. The reason determines which supporting documents are required.

API valueDescription
CurrentAdministratorLeftThe current administrator has left the company.
InternalReorganizationThe change is due to an internal reorganization.
AppointedByGeneralAssemblyThe new administrator was appointed by a general assembly.
AppointedByBoardDecisionThe new administrator was appointed by a board decision.
OtherOther reason.

Required supporting documents​

The required documents depend on the account holder's company type, whether the requester is the new administrator, and whether the new administrator is the company's legal representative.

Core documents​

This document is always required:

  • Company or association registration: Proof of the company's or association's existence (CompanyRegistration or AssociationRegistration).
tip

For French companies with a valid registration number, Swan automatically retrieves the company registration document from the INPI registry.

Conditional documents​

DocumentWhen it's required
LegalRepresentativeProofOfIdentityThe new administrator isn't the company's legal representative (the current legal representative's ID).
PowerOfAttorneyThe new administrator isn't the company's legal representative.
GeneralAssemblyMinutesThe company subtype is Association or HomeOwnerAssociation and the reason is AppointedByGeneralAssembly.
AdministratorDecisionOfAppointmentThe company subtype is Association or HomeOwnerAssociation and the reason is AppointedByBoardDecision.

Requester and new administrator​

The person filling out the form (the requester) can be the same person as the new administrator, or a different person.

  • Requester is the new administrator: The requester provides the new administrator's details directly. No additional requester information is needed.
  • Requester is different from the new administrator: The requester provides both their own details and the new administrator's details.

Canceling a request​

Account administrator change requests can't be canceled directly via the API or Dashboard. You have two options:

  • Wait for expiry: If the status is still Ongoing, the form URL expires automatically after 7 calendar days.
  • Contact Swan support: If the status is Pending or WaitingForInformation, contact Swan support via the support ticket to request a refusal.

After expiry or refusal, a new request can be initiated.

Limitations​

LimitationDescription
Account holder typeOnly company account holders are eligible.
Concurrent requestsOnly one active account administrator change per account holder at a time.
Form expiryForm URL expires after 7 calendar days.
ScopeThe change applies to all accounts under the same account holder.
InitiationNo self-service yet. Must be requested via a Swan support ticket.
Country-specific fieldsThe form doesn't collect residency address or tax identification number for Germany, Netherlands, and Italy accounts. Partners must collect them separately.
Identity verification levelQES required for Germany accounts. Expert required for France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain accounts.

API reference​

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The API operations listed on this page are coming soon. They'll be available starting 13 April 2026.

Query​

Use the publicAccountAdminChange query to retrieve the current state of an account administrator change by its ID.

query publicAccountAdminChange($accountAdminChangeId: ID!) {
  publicAccountAdminChange(accountAdminChangeId: $accountAdminChangeId) {
    ... on AccountAdminChange {
      id
      status
      reason
      admin {
        firstName
        lastName
        email
      }
    }
    ... on NonOngoingAccountAdminChange {
      id
      status
    }
  }
}

The query returns one of two types:

  • AccountAdminChange: the full object with all fields, returned when the status is Ongoing.
  • NonOngoingAccountAdminChange: a limited object containing only id and status, returned for all other statuses. This protects personal information after the form is submitted.

Mutations​

MutationPurpose
publicUpdateAccountAdminChangeUpdates the account administrator change with new information (reason, admin details, requester details). Only works when the status is Ongoing.
publicFinalizeAccountAdminChangeSubmits the completed form for review. Transitions the status from Ongoing to Pending. Requires all fields and documents to be provided.

Rejection types​

RejectionMeaning
AccountAdminChangeNotFoundRejectionThe account administrator change ID doesn't exist.
AccountAdminChangeStatusNotEligibleRejectionThe current status doesn't allow this operation.
AccountAdminChangeMissingInformationRejectionRequired fields are missing from the request.
AccountAdminChangeMissingDocumentsRejectionRequired supporting documents haven't been uploaded.
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The supporting document collection associated with an account administrator change uses the type AccountAdminChange. Upload documents to this collection using the supporting documents flow.

tip

Share the Change your account's legal representative Support Center article with your users. It explains the process from the account holder's perspective.