Hong Kong company formation requirements

It is really a great time especially for digital nomads who travel all the time or live in a different country. You can simply be a graphic designer or software developer and be working on the beach. I guess this is the biggest achievement for millennials. There are many types of clients, EU or US export/import companies from China, consulting companies advising on business development in Asia or even education companies teaching how to trade options on the stock market.

We have many requirements for a company formation in Hong Kong. The whole process is very simple and it can take as little as two hours. We would require you to fill out our  order form on our website and follow up the due diligence procedure.

Anyone can form a Hong Kong company, you do not need to be a Hong Kong resident or passport holder. There are no restrictions on any nationality.

The structure of Hong Kong Company is based on the same principle as is used in the UK namely a Ltd. (Limited Company), also known as Inc. or Corp. in the United States. A Hong Kong company ordinance stipulates several conditions:

– They type of company you set up it is determined by its suffix. The most common entity we form is an “Ltd.” or “Limited” company and you can use your name such as BlueNile Limited. From the legal perspective, you should use only Limited, rather than the tradition in the UK where you register your company with the suffix Ltd.

– A company director is a legally responsible person who is running a business on a day to day basis. If something goes wrong with your company, the director is the one who is responsible. The Director is elected by shareholders at the first meeting of the company. You might appoint a director who is either a natural person or a corporation, however, while appointing a corporate director there is a condition that you must elect at least one director who is a natural person followed by the appointment of the corporate director. A corporation can indeed be elected as the director. This corporate director might be elected in case the Hong Kong company is a branch of the international headquarter company and the headquarter company wants to make sure that it can make a legal decision while electing a local director.

– Shareholders are the owners of the company. Owners of the company are limited to a maximum of 50 shareholders. If you own more than 50% of a company, you are automatically a mayor shareholder. All Shareholders make any strategic decision.

– A company secretary occupies a non-executive position and it is designated to receive service of process notices, correspondence from the Company Registry, and other official government notifications, usually tax forms or business certificate renewals. A company secretary is appointed at the same time as you elect the director and issue shares to shareholders. We will provide this service for you.

– You need to have a Hong Kong-based address. We provide this service as well. You will use our address until you decide to change it.

– Business Licenses are ordered at the same time as the company is incorporated-

If you provide general services such as trading, consulting, IT solution, online stores, online education etc. there is no need of having a special license. Here are some cases where you need to have a business license: brokerage or any finance services, medical, schooling, money exchanges, restaurants, etc.

It’s always better to discuss your business license with a lawyer or business consultant.

Once your company is opened, you will receive following documents:

– Certificate of Incorporation

– Business Registration Certificate

– Articles of Association

– NNC1 Form – includes director/shareholder details

– Register of Members” – list of company shares distribution

– Share Certificates

– Minutes of First Meeting

– Company Organization Chart

– Register of Director and Company Secretary

Bank account opening is one of the most difficult parts of the incorporation. The banking system has become very strict about the bank account opening. I would suggest you read this article on how to set up bank account in Hong Kong.

If you have any question, please do let us know at our contact form.