Hong Kong Companies Ordinance Update
The Government have passed a new ordinance that seeks to restrict the information on Directors of Companies available for inspection by the General Public.
With effect from the 24th of October instead of showing a Director’s residential address and full Identification Number the Company Registry will instead only show a Correspondence address and a reduced identification number. The original residential address and ID information will still need to be recorded on the Company’s Register of Directors as certain specified people may require access in certain circumstances, however additionally a correspondence address is now also required for every natural person director (including reserve or alternate Directors).
What needs to be done:
- By 24 October 2024 a correspondence address for every Director (in addition to the residential address) needs to be recorded in the Register of Directors. A Director can continue to use their residential address as their correspondence address however it should be noted that in such cases this address will continue to be available to public enquiry.
- For local companies this correspondence address can be the Registered office of the Company. However, if another correspondence address is to be used (including continuing to use the existing residential address) the Company Registry needs to be informed within 15 days (on or before 7th November) using a FORM ND2B.
- For registered non-Hong Kong companies the registered principal place of business will be automatically treated as the correspondence address unless an alternative is filed with the Registry using a Form NN7.
If you are interested in Black Mountain’s Company Secretarial Services please contact us for more information.