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The Companies Registry Trading Fund (CRTF) made a record surplus of $118.6 million for the financial year ended March 31, 2007 according to the 2006-07 CRTF Annual Report tabled at the Legislative Council meeting today (October 17).
The registry's overall productivity in 2006-07 also increased by 14.1% compared to a year earlier. Explaining the details, the Registrar of Companies and General Manager of the CRTF, Ms Ada Chung said: "We completed a review of productivity targets in mid-2007 and are fully committed to the continuous improvement of our services to meet the needs of our customers."
In 2006-07, 84,545 new companies were incorporated, an increase of 11.5% compared with the previous year while the number of dissolutions of companies during the year decreased by 22.3% to 35,473.
2006-07 also saw moderate increases in the volumes of the Registry's other core services. The numbers of documents received for registration, applications for changes of company name, and charges received for registration increased by 4.2%, 2.7% and 1.3% respectively when compared with the figures for 2005-06.
Since the implementation of Phase I of the Integrated Companies Registry Information System (ICRIS) in February, 2005, customers may conduct company searches online concurrently on the current data of companies and directors and more than 95 million digitised images of registered documents 24 hours a day throughout the year.
At present, more than 97% of company searches are conducted over the internet. The CRTF plans to implement the second phase of ICRIS in 2009-10 which will see the provision of electronic filing services for incorporation of companies and document registration.
"To provide Hong Kong with a modernised legal infrastructure attuned to its needs in the 21st century as an international business and financial centre, a Companies Bill Team comprising staff from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Companies Registry was established in mid-2006 to undertake a major exercise to rewrite the Companies Ordinance," Ms Chung said.
"We plan to carry out the rewrite in two phases. Phase I of the rewrite covers the core company law provisions which affect the daily operation of over 600,000 live companies. We intend to publish a White Bill for public consultation by mid-2009. Phase II will cover those parts of the Companies Ordinance relating to winding-up and insolvency provisions," she said.
The 2006-07 Annual Report is the Registry's 14th report since it became a trading fund in August, 1993. It is also the last report by Mr Gordon Jones as the Registrar of Companies before he retired from government service. In his capacity as the Registrar of Companies, Mr Jones has revolutionised the manner in which the Registry provides its public services and played a leading role in company law and corporate governance reform.
People may obtain the CRTF's annual report on the Companies Registry's website: www.cr.gov.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:15
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