Company Secretary
Hong Kong, a premier international financial centre, attracts businesses from around the globe. Its robust legal system and strategic location make it an ideal place to incorporate and operate a company. As of the end of 2025, there was a record high of more than 1,500,000 local and re-domiciled companies registered with the Hong Kong Companies Registry (CR).
Under Section 474 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) , every Hong Kong-incorporated company is required to appoint a company secretary—a statutory role essential to maintaining good standing and ensuring compliance with regulatory obligations.
ComplianceOne Consulting Limited is a licensed Trust and Corporate Service Provider (TCSP) under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) (Licence No. TC007463). As a leading regulatory compliance firm in Hong Kong, we offer company secretarial services as a value-added component of our one-stop solution, supporting financial institutions and enterprises in meeting their corporate compliance needs with professionalism and efficiency.
Steps to Company Incorporation
Step 1: Choose the Company Name and determine the Company Type
Step 2: Define the Business Nature
Step 3: Establish the shareholding Structure and Share Capital
Step 4: Appoint the first company secretary
Step 5: Appoint the first directors
Step 6: Select a registered address and record-keeping premises
Additional Considerations in Company Incorporation
1）Company Name:
- Certain names may be restricted:
- Too similar to an existing company
- Protected by trademarks/copyrights
- Offensive or against public interest
- Suggestive of criminal activity
- Linked to the Chinese or HK SAR Government
- Certain names required prior approval from relevant regulatory authority:
- Bank
- Exchange
- Insurance
- Trust
- Practicing professional
2）Business Nature:
- Starting from 2023, all companies must select and fill in a code from the government’s pre-set list of business nature codes that corresponds to their principal business activities when submitting incorporation forms or annual returns.
3）Background of Shareholder and Director:
- Shareholders (also known as members) – As capital contributors, their liability is generally limited to the unpaid amount on their shares (for companies limited by shares).
- Directors – Form the board of directors as the management body. They are responsible for overseeing the company’s operations and ensuring compliance with statutory obligations.
- Nationality – Theoretically speaking, Hong Kong imposes no nationality restrictions on shareholders or directors. However, people from sanction or high-risk countries may encounter difficulties opening a local bank account and establish business relationship with a counter-party.
4） Share Capital:
- Unless required for specific regulated industries, the most common share capital amounts are HK$1, HK$100, or HK$10,000.
- Paid-up capital is not required in Hong Kong.
- The total value of issued shares represents the shareholders’ liability to the company.
- Share capital increase (or share allotment) can typically be completed within 1 working day, whereas share capital reduction may take several months to process.
5）Registered Office:
- The address of the company secretary (i.e., a virtual office) may be used as the registered office
- Non-Hong Kong addresses, ‘care of’ addresses and post office box numbers are not acceptable.
What ComplianceOne can do for you
1）Company Incorporation:
- Registration of limited companies in Hong Kong or overseas jurisdictions (BVI, Cayman, Samoa, etc.)
- Preparation of Articles of Association (A&A), Statutory Book, Common Seal & Company Chops
- Application for Business Registration (BR) Certificate
2）Provision of registered address:
- Provisions of registered address
- Act as correspondence address for mailing documents
3）Significant Controllers Register (SCR):
- Preparation and maintenance of SCR registry
- Act as local designated representative
4）Company Secretary Service:
- Filing of Annual Returns
- Preparation of General Minutes
- Preparation and maintenance of Register of Director (ROD) and Register of Member (ROM)
- Certified True Copy
- Apostille
- Corporate Changes:
- Change of Company Name
- Change of Business / Branch Name
- Change of Business Nature
- Change of Registered / Business Address
- Appointment / Resignation of Director
- Share Allotments
- Bought Sold Notes
- Profits Tax Return
- Employer’s Return
- Company Re-domiciliation
- Deregistration
External Reference
CR – How to register a new company?
https://www.cr.gov.hk/en/services/register-company.htm
InvestHK – Setting Up in Hong Kong
https://www.investhk.gov.hk/en/setting-up-in-hong-kong/#business-locations