subject: Understanding Hong Kong's Company Setup Laws [print this page] Hong Kong is one of the best places to do business in the world. Even the World Bank ranks the city in the second position out of all nations on earth for overall ease of doing business. Famous for having the freest economy in the world, a number of foreign companies enter the Hong Kong market each year. Foreign entrepreneurs that want to take advantage of the pro-business policies of the Hong Kong administration must try and understand the company setup laws in the city and then proceed to foreign business registration.
First thing you need to understand about setting up a company in Hong Kong is that you cannot apply on your own with the company registrar. It is mandatory for you to first contact and engage the services of a local incorporation services agency. You can choose to work with any incorporation agency you wish for in Hong Kong as per your own specific requirements. Once you have decided on which agency to use, your interaction with the company registrar will start to go through that agency.
Apart from the actual company registration application form, as per Hong Kong company laws a number of other documents are needed to be submitted as well. This includes details of each and every shareholder and director of the company, a Memorandum and Articles of Association and other details such as the registered business address in Hong Kong etc. It is important you first decide what type of company you want to register in Hong Kong before arranging for the documents. If you want to setup a Subsidiary, then you can use a new Memorandum and Articles of Association. If you decide to register a branch office, then the parent companys Memorandum and Articles of Association would be required.
Speaking of type of company, this is perhaps one of the most important aspects of forming a business in Hong Kong. Depending upon the type of company, a lot of things would differ including company structure, company name, business activities, mandatory compliance requirements etc. A Hong Kong subsidiary will allow you to start any business in the city and have your own company structure. A Hong Kong branch office on the other hand will require you to follow the same name, structure and business activities as the parent company. This is because a Subsidiary in Hong Kong has separate legal status whereas branch offices are simply seen as legal extensions of its owners.
