1

ReformingReformingBusiness Registration in Business Registration in

Hong KongHong Kong

Ms Ada ChungMs Ada ChungRegistrar of CompaniesRegistrar of Companies

30 March 200930 March 2009

2

Why is Hong Kong so special ?

HK

Gateway to China

3

Why is Hong Kong so special ? (2)

Freest economy of the world for the 15th consecutive year (the Heritage Foundation)

Ranked 1st in the 2007 Survey of Corporate Governance in Asia (the Asian Corporate Governance Association)

Ranked 1st in the Inward Foreign Investment Performance Index of the World Investment Report 2008 (the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development)

4

The Companies Registry

Operational Revenue of the Companies Registry

050

100150200250300350400

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

(Mill

ion

HK

$) Others

Searches and Copying

Annual Return

Incorporation

Charges Registration

5

Incorporating a Hong Kong Company

Section 4 of the Companies Ordinance:

Any one or more person may, for any lawful purpose, incorporate a company

Any one, whether a Hong Kong citizen or not, can incorporate a company on his own. No agency system.

There is no resident requirement on directors of a company

6

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (1)

Implementation of Phase I of the Integrated Companies Registry Information System (ICRIS)

New filing requirements for non-Hong Kong companies

Shortening the time for processing incorporation documents

Streamlining incorporation requirements

One-stop service for company incorporation and business registration

7

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (2) - Implementation of ICRIS

Phase I of ICRIS was implemented on 28 February 2005:

Paperless document processing workflow

Online search services

8

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (3) – New Filing Requirements for Non-Hong Kong Companies

Annual returns of non-Hong Kong companies

Relevant provision – section 334 of the Companies Ordinance

Deliver an annual return for registration within 42 days after each anniversary of the date of registration of the company

Escalating filing fee - HK$180 up to HK$4,800

9

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (4) – New Filing Requirements for Non-Hong Kong Companies

Compliance rate on filing of annual returns by non-Hong Kong companies

64.96%71.23%

87.12%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2006 2007 2008

10

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (5) – Shortening the Time for Processing Incorporation Documents

Position mentioned in the Doing Business Report 2009 - 7days for incorporation

The time for processing incorporation of Hong Kong companies was shortened with effect from 2 January 2008 as a result of streamlining of operation procedures and redeployment of resources:

6 working days

4 working days4 working days

11

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (6) – Streamlining Incorporation Requirements

After the introduction of a new incorporation form, newly incorporated companies are no longer required to file separate notifications on essential company particulars after incorporation since 11 July 2008

Impact on “Starting a Business” in the Doing Business Report

The number of steps has been reduced from 5 to 4

With the removal of the step, the overall time for “Starting a Business” has also been reduced by 1 day

12

Recent Major Improvement Initiatives (7) – One-stop Service for Company Incorporation and Business Registration

Establishment of a Receipt and Despatch Counter of the Business Registration Office in the Companies Registry on 1 December 2008

13

The Path Ahead

Phase II of ICRIS – online incorporation and document filing

Further integration of company incorporation and business registration processes online

Rewrite of Companies Ordinance

Companies Registry: http://www.cr.gov.hk

Inland Revenue Department: http://www.ird.gov.hk

14

Thank you !Thank you !