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A record high of 109,424 new local companies were registered with the Companies Registry in 2009, an increase of 10.93% from 98,645 in 2008, said the Registrar of Companies, Ms Ada Chung, today (January 28).
According to the annual statistics released by the Registry, the number of companies incorporated in March and August 2009 surged to 20,251 and 12,594 respectively compared to the average monthly incorporations of around 9,000 for 2009. This was probably related to the waiver of business registration fees for new companies.
By the end of 2009, the total number of live local companies registered under the Companies Ordinance was 772,253, up 61,487 from that in 2008.
As regards non-Hong Kong companies that have established a place of business in Hong Kong, 683 registered under Part XI of the Companies Ordinance in 2009, down from 872 in 2008. The total number of non-Hong Kong companies stood at 7,912 at the end of last year.
On the progress of the development of electronic incorporation, Ms Chung said: "We are moving full steam ahead in developing Phase II of the Integrated Companies Registry Information System with a view to launching electronic incorporation of companies and a one-stop service for electronic company incorporation and business registration in the 2010-11 financial year.
"With the new electronic services in place, application for incorporation of a local company and business registration will be shortened from an average of four working days to within one day," she added.
"Legislative amendments to the Companies Ordinance for implementing the new initiatives are making good progress. The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2010 was gazetted on January 22 this year and will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first reading on February 3. Hopefully, the amendments can be enacted within this year," Ms Chung said.
As a related issue, the rewrite of the Companies Ordinance is also being taken forward in full swing. The first phase of public consultation on the draft provisions of the Companies Bill, covering about half of the new Bill, was launched on December 17, 2009. The three-month consultation period will end on March 16 this year. Tentatively, the second phase consultation covering the remaining provisions of the Companies Bill will be launched in March this year.
The number of charges on assets of companies received for registration in 2009 was 27,459, a decrease of 29.47% from 38,933 in 2008. The number of memoranda of satisfaction and releases received for registration decreased by 15.36%, from 28,504 in 2008 to 24,126 in 2009.
In 2009, a total of 168 prospectuses were registered, an increase from 153 in 2008.
The total number of documents received for filing last year decreased by 8.82%, from 1,859,205 to 1,695,167.
A total of 2,899,981 searches of document image records was conducted through the Registry's Electronic Search Services in 2009, a decrease of 3.85% from 3,015,954 in 2008. The number of searches of the computerised Index of Directors in 2009 increased by 4.97%, from 237,764 in 2008 to 249,576 in 2009. The number of Company Particulars Reports issued increased by 6.7% to 167,868.
The total number of summonses issued by the Registrar of Companies last year against companies for breaches of the Companies Ordinance, mainly for failure to file annual returns, was 5,399, a decrease of 0.79% from 5,442 in 2008.
Ends/Thursday, January 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:02
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