Hong Kong separates two registrations that are often confused. Incorporation is handled by the Companies Registry under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and creates the legal entity; business registration is a revenue registration issued by the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310), and every business carrying on activity in Hong Kong must hold it, including sole proprietorships and partnerships that have no company file at all. Both are obtained together through the one-stop service, and the register is searched through the Companies Registry e-Services Portal.

The company registry in Hong Kong

The Companies Registry incorporates companies, registers non-Hong Kong companies with a place of business in the territory, and keeps the public register of company particulars, charges and filed documents. Incorporation is applied for on the statutory incorporation form together with the articles of association; on approval a Certificate of Incorporation is issued. The Inland Revenue Department issues the Business Registration Certificate, which must be applied for within one month of the commencement of business and displayed at the place of business; failure to register is an offence.

The one-stop company incorporation and business registration service means a single application at the Companies Registry produces both the incorporation certificate and the business registration certificate at the same time, in hard copy or electronic form with equal legal standing. The one-stop route does not cover sole proprietorships, partnerships or branches, which apply directly to the Inland Revenue Department.

The unique business identifier

Hong Kong has moved to a single identifier. The Business Registration Number, being the first eight digits of the business registration certificate number issued by the Inland Revenue Department, is the unique business identifier. It was adopted for limited partnership funds from 1 November 2021 and extended from 27 December 2023 to companies under the Companies Ordinance, open-ended fund companies, limited partnerships, registered trustee corporations and other entities registered by the Registrar of Companies, replacing the former company number as the identifier. Entities that were exempt from business registration received a converted dummy identifier, which must not be used to apply for business registration, and existing certificates were not reissued. On the same date the former Cyber Search Centre and e-Registry were replaced by a single e-Services Portal.

A further development is inward company re-domiciliation, available since 23 May 2025, which allows a non-Hong Kong corporation to transfer its domicile to Hong Kong while retaining its legal identity.

Legal forms that can be registered in Hong Kong

  • Private company limited by shares — Cap. 622. Members’ liability is limited to the amount unpaid on their shares; share transfers are restricted and membership is capped. The dominant vehicle for trading and holding businesses.
  • Public company limited by shares — Cap. 622. Same basis of liability, but shares may be offered to the public; the listing vehicle.
  • Company limited by guarantee without share capital — Cap. 622. Members undertake to contribute a fixed amount on winding up; used by non-governmental organisations, charities and trade associations.
  • Unlimited company, private or public — Cap. 622. Members have unlimited liability; rare, chosen where capital flexibility or account confidentiality matters.
  • Registered non-Hong Kong company — Part 16 of Cap. 622. A foreign-incorporated body that has established a place of business in Hong Kong; liability is governed by the place of incorporation and the entity is a branch presence rather than a separate company.
  • Sole proprietorship — registered only with the Inland Revenue Department under Cap. 310; unlimited personal liability and no Companies Registry file.
  • General partnership — governed by the Partnership Ordinance and registered for business registration under Cap. 310; partners are jointly and severally liable.
  • Limited partnership — Limited Partnerships Ordinance (Cap. 37), registered with the Registrar of Companies; general partners are unlimitedly liable while limited partners are liable only to the extent of their contribution.
  • Limited partnership fund — Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance (Cap. 637), in force since 31 August 2020 and administered by the Companies Registry. One general partner with unlimited liability and at least one limited partner; the vehicle for private and venture funds, with migration available for existing limited partnerships.
  • Open-ended fund company — Part IVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) with its own rules. A corporate fund with limited liability and variable share capital: the Securities and Futures Commission approves registration while the Registrar of Companies issues the certificate of incorporation. It files no share capital information, has no company secretary requirement, files no charges and files no annual return.

Information available from the Hong Kong register

The e-Services Portal is searchable by company name, company number or business registration number, and covers entities under the Companies Ordinance, the Limited Partnerships Ordinance, the Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance, the Securities and Futures Ordinance for open-ended fund companies, the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance, the Money Lenders Ordinance and various miscellaneous incorporation ordinances.

The public data include the company name and former names, the company number and business registration number, the date of incorporation, the entity type, the registration status, the registered office address, the particulars of directors and the company secretary, the register of charges, share capital, and an index of filed documents with image records — including the incorporation forms and the annual returns.

What is restricted

Hong Kong has phased in a new inspection regime under the Companies (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021. It protects two categories of “protected information”: the usual residential addresses of directors and the full identification numbers of directors, company secretaries and other relevant persons. The public register instead shows correspondence addresses and partial identification numbers. Phase 1, from 23 August 2021, allowed companies to use correspondence addresses and partial identification numbers on their own registers open to inspection. Phase 2, from 24 October 2022, switched the Registry’s index of directors to the protected format and withheld protected information in documents filed after that date. Phase 3, from 27 December 2023, allowed data subjects to apply to the Registrar to withhold protected information already sitting in previously filed documents. Full particulars are available only to “specified persons” who apply to the Registry for the performance of statutory functions.

On beneficial ownership, Hong Kong took a different path from a public register. Every company formed under the Companies Ordinance or a former Companies Ordinance, and every re-domiciled company, other than a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, must keep a Significant Controllers Register at its registered office or another place in Hong Kong notified to the Registrar. It is kept by the company and is neither filed with the Registry nor publicly searchable. Each company must appoint a designated representative — a Hong Kong resident member, director or employee, or an accounting, legal or licensed trust and company service professional — to assist law enforcement. Inspection rights belong to law enforcement officers on demand, including the Companies Registry, Customs and Excise, the Monetary Authority, the Police, Immigration, the Inland Revenue Department, the Insurance Authority, the anti-corruption commission and the Securities and Futures Commission, and to significant controllers in respect of their own particulars.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

From the Companies Registry:

  • Certificate of Incorporation — issued once on formation, or a Certificate of Registration for a non-Hong Kong company; conclusive evidence of incorporation or registration.
  • Certificate of Change of Name — issued on an approved change of name, evidencing the new name and its effective date.
  • Certificate of Continuing Registration — certifies that the named entity is a Hong Kong company, a registered non-Hong Kong company or a re-domiciled company and remains registered, stating the current name and the date of incorporation, registration or re-domiciliation. This is Hong Kong’s functional equivalent of a certificate of good standing; the Registry does not issue a document under that name.
  • Certified copies of registered document image records — certified copies of anything on the register, such as the incorporation form, annual returns, charge instruments and the articles of association.
  • Company search report — the consolidated current particulars of an entity; the standard due-diligence product.

From the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department, where applications are now made online:

  • Business Registration Certificate or Branch Registration Certificate — issued to every registered business, displayed at the place of business, and carrying the number whose first eight digits are the unique business identifier. Available with one-year or three-year validity.
  • Electronic extract of information on the Business Register and certified extract — the certified version is used in evidence and is how the particulars of sole proprietorships and partnerships, including the names of proprietors and partners, are obtained, since those businesses have no Companies Registry record.
  • Certified copy or duplicate of a valid business or branch registration certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between incorporation and business registration in Hong Kong?

Incorporation with the Companies Registry creates the company under the Companies Ordinance. Business registration with the Inland Revenue Department is a revenue registration that every business must hold, including sole proprietorships and partnerships that are not companies.

What is the unique business identifier?

The business registration number, the first eight digits of the business registration certificate number. It replaced the former company number as the identifier for companies and other Registry-registered entities from 27 December 2023.

Are directors’ addresses public in Hong Kong?

No longer in full. Under the new inspection regime the register shows correspondence addresses and partial identification numbers; usual residential addresses and full identification numbers are available only to specified persons who apply for them.

Does Hong Kong have a public beneficial ownership register?

No. Companies must keep a Significant Controllers Register at their own premises. It is not filed with the Registry and not publicly searchable; law enforcement may inspect it on demand.

Does the Companies Registry issue a certificate of good standing?

Not under that name. The Certificate of Continuing Registration performs the same function, certifying that the entity remains on the register and stating its current name and registration date.

Where do sole proprietors and partnerships appear?

Only on the Business Register kept by the Inland Revenue Department. Their particulars are obtained through an extract of information on the Business Register rather than through a company search.

Sources

Keywords

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