FAQ about Hong Kong Company Incorporation |
1)Q:How can I process the tax registration regarding
cessation of business? |
| One shareholder and director above 18 years or more, Chinese resident or overseas person holding passport or ID card can incorporate a Hong Kong Limited Company. Additionally, a Hong Kong address must be supplied to be the registered address and a Hong Kong resident or professional company must be act as statutory secretary of the Company. QIDE can provide registered address and Corporate Secretarial services). |
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2)Q:Can Mainland resident incorporate HongKong
Company? |
| Yes,The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance has no restriction on the nationality of shareholder/director. |
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3)Q:How long will it take for incorporating a HongKong
Company? |
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4)Q:Can the business nature does not show on the
business registration certificate? |
| No,If the company does not want to indicate specifically, the nature of business may not be specified. |
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5)Q:Can the scope of business shown on the business
registration certificate restrict expansion of other
business of the company? |
| Since business registration certificate does not restrict the scope of business of the company which refers to main business activities of the company, business registration certificate will not restrict the expansion of other business of the company. |
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6)Q:How can a company know whether it's lawfully
registered? |
| A company can entrust QIDE to check the register or consult the Companies Registry. Additionally, if the bank is willing to open an account for the company, it's enough to prove the validity of the company. |
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7)Q:When can newly-incorporated limited company find
related registration record in Companies Registry? |
| It can consult the Companies Registry after 16 workdays from the date of registration. |
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8)Q:Are obligation s incurred by limited company
calculated by shares in authorized capital or
issued shares? |
| The Company incurs obligation on the issued shares, and no obligation on un-issued shares. |
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FAQ about Hong Kong Company Name |
1)Q:Can a limited company be incorporated, whose
name does not include the word "Limited Company"
or "Limited"? |
| No,Limited Company incorporated in Hong Kong shall have its name contain the words "Limited Company" or "Limited" in order to indicate that shareholders shall bear limited liability for future obligation. |
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2)Q:Can the Chinese name of company use simplified
Chinese characters? |
| No,It must use traditional Chinese characters. |
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3)Q:Can company name be registered in only Chinese
or English? |
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| 4)Q:What languages can be used to name the company? |
| Chinese or English, Arabic numbers can be included in the name but Chinese and English cannot be used together. |
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| 5)Q:Is there any restriction in company name? |
| Company name cannot contain the word "Bank" or "Insurance" unless another license is applied for or other words misleading people to believe it has any relation with Government. |
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6)Q:Shall company name have to use words related to
the scope of business? |
| No,The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance does not require that the name of company has to relate to its scope of business. Moreover, the scope of business of HongKong Company is not restricted. |
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| 7)Q:Can incorporated company change its name? |
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8)Q:What are the differences between names of
HongKong Company and Mainland Company? |
| Hong Kong Company can be named freely, and on the condition of no exact company name already registered, some words difficult to be registered in Mainland can be registered in Hong Kong . Whether large or small in authorized capital, companies are permitted by HongKong Government to have their names contain "International", "Group", "Holdings", "Industrial", "Investment" and other words; in the front of company name, name of country or place can also be added, such as France, U.S.A, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, etc. |
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FAQ about Authorized Capital of HongKong Company
Limited |
1)Q:Does the authorized capital of the company need
verification? |
| The authorized capital, no matter how much it is, does not need verification. |
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2)Q:What is the difference and relation between
authorized capital and issue of shares? |
| Authorized capital shall be registered with Government first. Issue of shares shall be made after capital is registered, so issue of shares shall not exceed the authorized capital. Shareholders shall full y pay the issued shares on proportion of shareholding inQIDEd of authorized capital. The future obligation to be incurred by the company shall be calculated on the basis of issue d shares. |
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| 3)Q:What does the authorized capital represent? |
The authorized capital represents:
· The company's maximum financing capacity:
The company finances its existing shareholders or new investors through issue of new
shares, so the higher the authorized capital, the more the company
can finance
· Shareholders' maximum liability:
If the company liquidates,
shareholders shall bear liability limited to the issued but not
fully paid capital inQIDEd of authorized capital. |
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4)Q:How much authorized capital will be needed in
company formation? |
| The authorized capital represents the company's financing capacity, and additionally, the authorized capital can also be deemed as shareholders' undertaking to future obligations to be incurred by the company, so the high er the authorized capital, the higher the confidence the public will have on the company. Hong Kong company of limited liability shall have a standard authorized capital of HK$10,000. |
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5)Q:What governmental fees need to be paid for
increasing authorized capital? |
| HongKong Government shall charge 0.1% Stamp Duty, that is, for every increase of HK$1,000 authorized capital will charge HK$1.00. No matter how much authorized capital is increased, HongKong Government shall charge Stamp Duty up to HK$30,000 at each time. |
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FAQ about Directors and Shareholders of Hong Kong
Company Limited |
1)Q:What are the differences between shareholders
and directors? |
Shareholders and directors are different in comparison in the following rights and obligations:
Shareholders' rights and obligations are as follows:
·
To take part in meetings of shareholders, and entitled to voting
power in proportion of shareholding
· To understand the operating and financial conditions of the company
· To elect and to be elected as members of Board of Directors
· To obtain dividends
· To pre-empt shares transferred by other shareholders
· To subscribe in priority the shares newly issued by the company
· To have distribution from the remaining property after liquidation of the company
· The meeting of shareholders shall consider and pass the annual auditors' report
· To employ or dismiss directors in shareholders meetings and determine directors' remuneration
Directors' rights and obligations are as follows:
· To take charge of ordinary operations and decisions of the company
· To keep accounting book and business record
· To take charge of bank account management
· To secure the loan borrowed with the company's property
· To propose profits distribution scheme
· To propose authorized capital increase scheme
· To convene meetings of shareholders
· To execute resolutions passed at meetings of shareholders |
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2)Q:Can the shareholder and director be the
same person? |
| Yes,The shareholder and director of the company can be the same person. |
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3)Q:How many shareholders and directors shall a
limited company have at the least? |
| At least one shareholder and director, which can be the same person. |
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4)Q:Can non-Hong Kong residents become
shareholders and directors of HongKong Limited
Company? |
| Chinese residents or overseas persons who over 18 years old and holding passports or ID cards can become shareholder or directors of Hong Kong limited company. |
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5)Q:Is it necessary for non-Hong Kong residents to
hold passports in order to be shareholders and
directors of limited company? |
| No,But if the company wants to open a bank account in Hong Kong , shareholders and directors shall hold valid passports or travel permits and ID cards. |
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6)Q:Can limited company act as shareholder or director
of another limited company? |
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7)Q:Can the information of directors and shareholders
of the company be made available to other persons? |
| Yes. All information of limited company registered in Hong Kong , including names, addresses and shareholding percentage of shareholders and names, ID card numbers or passport numbers and addresses, shall be available to the public. If the information of shareholders and directors want to be kept confidentially, QIDE can provide services of nominee shareholder and nominee director. Details in Nominee Service |
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FAQ about Purchasing Shelf Company |
| 1)Q:What's Shelf Company? |
Shelf Company always has following characteristics:
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It has not appointed a director
· It has Certificate of Incorporation, seal of company, stock certificate
book and other documents required by law
· It has not applied for business registration certificate, without business activities
· The purchaser can make purchase only by supplying necessary
documents |
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2)Q:Is there any potential risks in purchasing Shelf
Company? |
| Shelf Company is very common in most countries and regions, for example,HongKong,Singapore,British Virgin Islands (BVI), United State s of America (U.S.A.) and Cayman Islands . In general, Shelf Company shall not appoint any director, nor apply for business registration certificate,and it hasn't power to conduct business and open bank account, so there is no potential risk in purchasing Shelf Company. |
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3)Q:What documents are procurable in purchasing
Shelf
Company? |
Procurable are registered documents in complete sets, including:
· Certificate of Incorporation
· Business Registration Certificate
· 20 copies of the Company's Articles of Association
· The Company's steel seal
· The Company's pre-inked chop
· Stock certificate book
· Statutory book
· Copies of documents filed with Government, for example, the Notice
of Appointment of the first director, Notice of Acceptance of Director
and Notice of Registered Address, etc. |
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| 4)Q:Can Shelf Company change the name of company? |
| Yes,Just as newly-incorporated company, the intended company name shall also be checked with Companies Registry , only if it's available, the Shelf Company can apply to Companies Registry for change of name. It will take about 14 workdays to alter name of Shelf Company. |
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5)Q:Can the Company increase authorized capital after
registration? |
| Yes,It shall pay Stamp Duty of HK$1 for each increase of HK$1,000 in authorized capital. Later, it can allocate shares to new and old shareholders as required. |
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6)Q:How many directors can be appointed in purchasing
Shelf
Company?
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FAQ about Company Secretary of Hong Kong Company
Limited |
| 1)Q:What's a Company Secretary? |
| According to the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, limited company shall appoint a Company Secretary, in charge of arranging meetings, keeping minutes of meetings, and presenting statutory documents to governmental department, to ensure the company meet s statutory requirements, and to help opening bank account. |
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| 2)Q:What is the qualification for Company Secretary? |
| HongKong resident over 18 years old for a person, or limited company registered in Hong Kong for corporate entity. |
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| 3)Q:Can Chinese resident act as Company Secretary? |
No,Company Secretary shall be HongKong resident or
HongKong Limited Company. |
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4)Q:What shall be done if there is no eligible person
to act as
statutory secretary of the company? |
| Ano ther company can be employed, for example, Certified Public Accountants in Hong Kong can provide the service of statutory secretary. QIDE can provide relevant service.(Detailed in Corporate Secretarial Service) |
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FAQ about Registered Offic |
1)Q:Does a company need to have office or address
in HongKong
to register company? |
| Company to be registered in Hong Kong needs a HongKong registered address inQIDEd of its own office. QIDE can provide company registered address service, so clients can rent office without additional expenditure. |
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2)Q:Must the registered address of the company be
in HongKong? |
| Yes,Every company registered in HongKong must have a HongKong address, because all governmental letters will be posted to that address. |
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3)Q:What shall be done if there is no registered address
in HongKong? |
| The company registered address service provided by QIDE can be used. |
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| 4)Q:Can the registered address be changed? |
| A company can change its registered address at any time. |
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FAQ about Bank Account of Company |
1)Q:Is there any possibility that HongKong Limited
Company
does not open bank account? |
| Bank account may not be opened when that's not necessary, but we suggest that all business contacts shall be operated through the bank account of the company. |
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2)Q:How can a registered company open a bank
account? |
| All shareholders and directors must attend the bank account opening procedure, but the requirement s of some banks for shareholders to attend can be different. The company shall carry on its incorporation documents to open account at bank, and can also choose to open account at foreign bank in HongKong or Mainland. |
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3)Q:What documents are needed in opening bank
account? |
Bank will generally ask the company to provide the following documents:
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The original minutes of meetings approving opening of account
· Certificate of incorporation (copy certified by accountant)
· Business registration certificate (copy certified by accountant)
· Notice of appointment of director and secretary (copy certified by
accountant)
· Articles of Association (copy certified by accountant)
· ID card/passport of each director
· Personal address proof of each director |
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4)Q:Is company bank account operated by shareholders
or
directors? |
| The operation of account can be delegated to third party through delegation, in addition to operation by shareholders and directors perse. |
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5)Q:Can directors failing to attend the bank account
opening
procedures in Hong Kong and process
relevant procedures in Mainland? |
| Directors who desire to open bank account in Hong Kong should come to Hong Kong to process relevant procedures. Directors who are not able to come to Hong Kong can also choose to open offshore account with foreign bank in Mainland. |
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6)Q:Is there any limitation for cash drawing from
HongKong bank? |
| Capital in Hong Kong is freely circulated without limitation. |
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7)Q:Shall the banks charge handling fee to open bank
account in
HongKong? |
| Generally, banks do not charge handling fee, but HK$2,000-3,000 shall be deposited for first opening; overseas company will be charged certain handling fee for opening account. |
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| 8)Q:When can bank account operate? |
| Banks will check the register after account is opened, generally for 2 weeks before the account can operate. |
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9)Q:Can Chinese resident operate bank account of a
HongKong
company? |
| Yes,Generally, the bank only asks account operator to hold valid passport or travel permit and ID card. |
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10)Q:Which cities in Mainland can be used to open
offshore account? How does the offshore account
operated in foreign
land? |
| Currently, some foreign banks in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Dalian, Xiamen and other cities can provide service of opening offshore account s. Clients in foreign country can direct the bank to operate the account by personal passwords, telephone, and fax. Now most banks have put into operation online banking service, so clients can operate their bank account via internet. |
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11)Q:What are the differences between HongKong
local and
Mainland offshore accounts in operation? |
HongKong local and Mainland offshore accounts are different in the
following aspects:
·
Capital is not restricted to come in or go out of HongKong, but
offshore account is opened by foreign bank in China, under
control of Chinese financial management body. Offshore account
in China does not accept cash deposit.
· The documents for opening account are different , Mainland ID
card holder can open offshore account, but only holder of passport
or travel permit and ID card can open local account in HongKong.
· HongKong local account has complete banking functions, but
offshore account is restricted in some functions. |
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12)Q:Can one company open more than one bank
account? |
| In HongKong , a bank account is not differentiated by basic account and general account. Enterprise can open more than one account according to needs, and every account has the same function and position. |
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13)Q:Is there any restriction for remittance and foreign
currency
exchange in HongKong banks? |
| Capital is free to come in and go out of Hong Kong , without any restriction. |
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FAQ about Operation of Hong Kong Company |
1)Q:Need Hong Kong company incorporated pay fees
to HongKong Government? |
| HongKong company incorporated need s to pay to HongKong Government business registration certificate fee (HK$2,600) and annual return registration fee ( HK$105) every year. |
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2)Q:How Hong Kong company incorporated process
annual
accounting and auditing? |
| It can entrust professional Certified Public Accountant's firm to process. QIDE provides complete accounting and auditing services. The company need only provide invoices, monthly bank statements, bills, pay record and other information, to help conduct accounting and auditing work. (Detailed in Accounting , Auditing Service) |
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3)Q:Can QIDE provide customs declaration and
processing
banker's letter of credit service? |
| Yes,We provide the aforementioned services. For detailed information, please contact us. |
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4)Q:How would Hong Kong company incorporated
work without
office or employee in HongKong? |
| The Business Centre Service of QIDE is catering to customers with this need. (Details in Business Centre Service) |
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FAQ about Deregistration of Hong Kong Company |
| 1)Q:Can a Hong Kong company be deregistered? |
Yes, but conditional on the following:
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Consent by all shareholders
· The company is not running or operating any business, or stopped operation more than 3 months before applying for deregistration
· No unpaid indebtedness, including government charges and taxes
· It shall obtain the Notice in Writing of No Objection issued by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
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2)Q:Can company with unpaid indebtedness apply for
deregistration? |
Company with unpaid debts can also apply for deregistration, but subject to one of the following conditions:
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Its parent company or subsidiary, or its directors, shareholders and
others consent to pay the debts
· Creditor s execute consent to give up recover the debts |
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3)Q:What documents are needed for applying Company
deregistration? |
Following documents are needed to be provided:
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Certificate of incorporation
· Business Registration Certificate
· Latest annual return
· Latest financial statements |
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4)Q:How long it will take to apply for HongKong
Company deregistration? |
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5)Q:Does the company need to present financial
statements to
apply for HongKong Company
deregistration? |
| Not necessarily. A HongKong Limited Company incorporated more than 18 months ago, in case that Inland Revenue Department has issued the profits tax return, shall complete the return, together with one copy of financial statements audited by Certified Public Accountant and presented to the Inland Revenue Department. |
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6)Q:Does the company need to present annual return
during the period of application for HongKong Company
deregistration? |
| Yes,The company still needs to present annual return until the Companies Registry notifies the company it's deregistered. |
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