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The registration system for non-Hong Kong companies will be further improved starting mid-December with the implementation of new provisions in the Companies Ordinance.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, by notice published in the Gazette today (October 18), has appointed December 14 as the commencement date for the provisions concerning non-Hong Kong companies in the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (Amendment Ordinance). The Registrar of Companies has also appointed the same date (December 14) as the commencement date for the Companies Ordinance (Amendment of Eighth Schedule) Order 2007 (the Fees Order) to give effect to the amended statutory fees for non-Hong Kong companies.
The Amendment Ordinance will implement, among other things, various proposals to modernise the registration regime for overseas companies and to rename "oversea companies" to "non-Hong Kong companies", including the introduction of a requirement for a non-Hong Kong company to file a full annual return and a new service of issuing certificates of registration in respect of non-Hong Kong companies.
In conjunction with these proposals, the Fees Order replaces the existing filing fees concerning non-Hong Kong companies with a single filing fee, and introduces a new fee for the issue of certificates of registration. Escalating fees in respect of late filing of annual returns by non-Hong Kong companies are also introduced to encourage compliance with the filing requirements under the Companies Ordinance and the timely disclosure of corporate information.
"With the completion of the necessary modifications to the Companies Registry's Integrated Companies Registry Information System, the relevant provisions on 'non-Hong Kong companies' as well as the Fees Order are ready to begin," a government spokesman said.
"As regards the Fees Order, the new single filing fee is set on the basis of the 'revenue neutral' principle - that is non-Hong Kong companies, on average, would not pay more when compared with the fees payable at present as long as their annual returns are filed within the deadline prescribed in the Companies Ordinance (within 42 days after the anniversary date of registration)," the spokesman said.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury has also appointed December 14 as the commencement date for section 64 of the Financial Reporting Council Ordinance which replaces the existing section of the Companies Ordinance in relation to voluntary revision of accounts of an overseas company by renaming "oversea company" as "non-Hong Kong company".
Ends/Thursday, October 18, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:31
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