Company Secretary Services

A company secretary handles statutory compliance matters including annual returns, maintaining statutory records, and processing company changes. Hong Kong law requires every company to appoint a company secretary.

If the company has only one director, that director cannot also serve as company secretary. With two or more directors, one may serve as secretary, but we recommend appointing a professional firm to ensure compliance.

The annual return is due on the anniversary of incorporation each year and must be filed within 42 days of that date. Late filing incurs penalties.

Sign an appointment letter and we handle the rest. Changing company secretary usually takes 3-7 working days: Form ND2A must be filed with the Companies Registry within 15 days, and the statutory records have to pass from the outgoing secretary to us. We take over with effect from day one, so there is no compliance gap -- the timing mostly depends on how quickly the outgoing provider releases the records.

Our annual fee does not include government filing fees (e.g. Annual Return USD 15), but we clearly list all charges with no hidden fees.

The registration fee escalates in four steps. Filed on time it is USD 15; once past the 42-day window a higher fee applies, and it rises again at three, six and nine months — by nine months late it is roughly 33 times the on-time amount. The Registrar has no power to reduce that fee or extend the deadline, so the only variable you control is how soon it goes in. A late return can still be filed, and we can handle the catch-up.

Yes. No revenue, no customers, and a bank account with no movement change nothing — the annual return is still due. The only exception is formal dormant status under the Companies Ordinance, which needs a special resolution passed by all members and delivered to the Companies Registry within 15 days, and requires that the company had no accounting transactions at all for the year. It must be applied for; it is never granted automatically.

Three obligations on three separate clocks. The annual return (NAR1) goes to the Companies Registry within 42 days of your incorporation anniversary and reports directors, shareholders and registered address. The Business Registration certificate is renewed with the Inland Revenue Department against the certificate expiry date. The profits tax return also goes to the IRD, generally due one month from the date it is issued, together with audited financial statements. Filing one does not cover the other two.

No. The annual fee covers statutory secretarial duties only: the annual return, statutory records, filing company changes, and deadline reminders. Bookkeeping, tax filing and audit are separate services you can add. One point worth stating plainly: statutory audits are performed by practising CPAs; we handle bookkeeping and year-end preparation.

It is a register of the people who ultimately control the company — most commonly anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, directly or indirectly. Almost every Hong Kong company has had to keep one since 2018. It is not filed and not public, but it must sit at the registered office for inspection by law enforcement. Failing to keep it is a criminal offence: the company and each responsible person can each be fined HK$25,000, plus HK$700 for every day the default continues.