Hong Kong, of course, well known as a major international center. It is located on the South East Coast of China and became part of China on the 01st of July 1977. It is a Special Administration Region (SAR) within the People’s Republic of China with its own Legislature and Courts. English and Chinese are the official languages and incorporation documents may be in either language or both.
There is no “Offshore” legislation in HK. All companies are incorporated under the same legislation, whether they are doing business locally or “offshore”. (HK Company Ordinance, 1997 version, as amended 2004). What makes HK companies similar to offshore companies, such as those incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is the tax free status of such companies, under certain circumstances. If a HK company does NO business in HK and derives no income from HK sources, then it is not taxable in HK. So as long as a HK company does business anywhere else in the world, it is in effect, an offshore company, similar to BVI, IBC’s.
HK companies are advantageous because they are not perceived as “tax havens”. The Legal system is based on British common Law. The political environment is stable. Finance and Banking is excellent and there are no exchange controls. A HK company may do business anywhere in the world and there is no requirement of Directors and Shareholder’s to be resident in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, being a International Financial Centre and a Tax Haven, has a lot of branches of major international banks which are trustworthy and have lot of branches all over the world. Hong Kong banks will only need a passport copy and the address of the client to comply with the Hong Kong law, which also requires that no Hong Kong banks can disclose their clients details to any one without their permission. We always assist out clients to open account with major banks in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has no exchange control. Money can be deposited, withdrawn or transferred out of Hong Kong bank account freely without paying any tax, including withholding taxes.
It is easy to form a limited company incorporated in Hong Kong (HK). There are almost no restrictions provided that there are no existing HK companies with identical names and no well know companies with similar names.
Company Name
- Company Name Must end with the word “Limited”, but is not required to contain the word “HongKong”.
- The following names require licensing to be used. Bank, Insurance, Assurance, Re – Insurance, Trust, Trustee, Savings, Royal, Asset Management, Fund Management, Investment Fund, Building Society, Municipal, Chartered, Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Association, Kaifong, Mass Transit, Underground Railways. Names denoting any connection to local, state or national governments are generally prohibited.
Director
- Minimum one (1) who can be an individual or corporate.
- Must be above the age of 18 years.
- NO requirement for a LOCAL Director.
- Director and Shareholder can be the same person or corporation.
Shareholder
- Minimum one (1) who can be an individual or corporate.
- Shareholder(s) and Director(s) may be the same person.
- NO requirement for a LOCAL Shareholder.
- Shareholder and Director can be the same person or corporation.
Secretary
- Minimum one (1) individual
- MUST be a resident HK Individual or Corporation. (Please note that if the company has only one Director, the sole Director cannot act as the company Secretary).
Registered Office Address
- MUST be an address in HK. We can provide that.
Correspondence Mailing Address
- Can be anywhere in the world.
Annual Financial Statement and other records
- Annual financial statements must be prepared, audited and presented to the Government to prove that the company did no business in Hong Kong and therefore owes no taxes.
- Such statements must be presented within 18 months of incorporation.
Privacy of identity of principals
- The names of the Director’s and Shareholder’s are required to be filed with the Government and they are also available in the public records
- Privacy can be provided through the use of nominee Shareholder and Director.
- Only the nominee names are filed with the Government and appear in the public records. The Beneficial Owner of the company and the Power of Attorney issued to him/her to run the company, are not required to be filed with the Government or placed in the public records.
To begin with kindly obtain a copy of our application form which acts as a Guide Providing us the necessary info and documents for activating/setting up a HK Company.
The incorporation process is usually completed within couple of days (excluding the transit time of documents).
We are able to provide the service of resident Company Secretary, Nominee Director, Nominee Shareholder and/or Nominee Signatory. However, we will require the following information for compliance of our internal due diligence:
In addition the beneficial owner(s) is/are required to enter into our Agreement for Services. In the event of nominee Shareholder is provided, we will in return provide the beneficial owner(s) a Declaration of Trust to confirm that the nominee is holding the share(s) in the company for and on behalf of him/her.
The procedures for opening bank account depends on the bank you want to use. HSBC requires all the Director’s and authorized bank signatories to come to HK in person while Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of East Asia allow you to visit their overseas branch. Please refer below for the bank’s detailed requirements
Timing
To open bank accounts, it will take approximately 2 to 5 weeks depending on the bank, after submitting the duly signed bank account opening forms (i.e. after the company has been formed).