Corporate Services
Effective corporate governance is critical to the
success of any businesses. Therefore it is essential that best practice is
adhered to at all times in the setting up and maintenance of the companies
which you will use as the vehicles to run your business. At ONC Lawyers,
we have an affiliate, ONC Consulting Limited, to provide our clients the
necessary expertise for the compliance with relevant statutory laws and
regulations that are applicable to a company’s formation and maintenance.
There are different forms of entities available to
suit your need in running your business. In Hong Kong, there are different
choices to carry on a business: as a sole proprietor, in partnership or you
may, as many people do, incorporate a company. A company is treated in law as a
legal person which is independent from its members and may enter into
contracts, own property, sue and be sued in legal proceedings. You may
incorporate a private or public company limited by shares to run your business
or a company limited by guarantee which is commonly set up for charitable or
non-profit making purposes.
Besides setting up a Hong Kong company, you may
have the need to form offshore business entities to fulfill your business
objectives. The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Bermuda are some
common jurisdictions which you may choose. For instance, you may set up an
“International Business Company” in the British Virgin Islands or an “Exempted
Company” in the Cayman Islands as the holding company of your business group or
as an investment company to hold your assets. For Bermuda companies, they are
popular listing vehicles in Hong Kong.
For a local company, our company secretarial
services span from incorporating the company, acting as the registered company
secretary for the company, maintaining statutory registers, drafting
resolutions and handling the necessary filings with the Hong Kong Companies
Registry such as annual returns and prescribed forms with respect to changes to
share capital, directors, auditor and articles of association etc. Besides, we
can also act as the designated representative in relation to the significant
controllers register of the company.
A Hong Kong company is required to maintain a
registered office in Hong Kong. As setting up a physical
presence in Hong Kong could be costly, we could assist with our registered
office service and you may have our office address registered on public record
as the registered office of your company. All letters received by us will be
forward to your designated address.
For companies to be established in offshore
jurisdictions, we will work with our overseas agents to ensure compliance with
all offshore legal requirements in the formation of the business entities that
you require and their ongoing maintenance including the maintenance of
statutory registers, the preparation of effective resolutions and all necessary
statutory filings. We are the expert link between you and the overseas agents.
All communications from the agents will be directed to you and we will help you
to remit payments of all government and service fees.
Any offshore company which establishes a place of
business in Hong Kong is required to be registered as a non-Hong Kong company.
You can rely on our registration services for a non-Hong Kong company as well
as our ongoing maintenance services with respect to the filing of annual return
and all necessary statutory filings with the Hong Kong Companies Registry. A
non-Hong Kong company is required to have an authorized representative to
accept on behalf of the company service of any process or other notice required
to be served on the company. Being a firm of practicing solicitors, we can act
in such capacity for your non-Hong Kong company upon your subscription for this
service.
We have many years of experience in providing
company secretarial services. Our clients include banking groups, investment
companies, properties group, entertainment companies and companies carrying on
a variety of other businesses. We provide top quality services to our
clients. Our team of company secretarial services are equipped with the
necessary expertise and experience. All works are closely supervised by
solicitors of our Corporate and Commercial team to ensure their quality and
compliance with statutory laws and regulations.
If you would
like to know more about our corporate services or how we can help your
business, please contact us at (852) 2810 1212 or at cc@onc.hk.