Company secretarial services are currently only offered to Hong Kong SAR incorporated companies and UK incorporated companies.  We hope to add other jurisdictions in time, as we expand our physical presence into more countries.

Company secretarial services fall into one of four service offerings detailed below.

In the Hong Kong SAR all companies are required by the Companies Ordinance to appoint a Company Secretary, which may be an individual or a corporate body.  The Secretary, if an individual, must ordinarily reside in the Hong Kong SAR, or if a corporate body, must have its registered office or a place of business in the Hong Kong SAR.  The sole Director of a private company cannot also be the Company Secretary.

In the UK small companies can now choose not to have a Company Secretary, but the duties undertaken by the Secretary still need to be fulfilled, meaning a Director has to take on these additional responsibilities.

Routine activities the Company Secretary is responsible for undertaking include:

• Filing an Annual Return/Confirmation Statement
• Ensuring the Company’s registered address is kept up to date
• Ensuring the record of Directors and their details is kept up to date
• Calling Director and Shareholder meetings to approve the financial statements and preparing meeting minutes

Whether it be issuing new shares to investors, through to selling your shares at exit, a range of events that happen in the life of a company need Company Secretarial input and filings with a range of regulators.

Using a professional firm as your Company Secretary ensures these important filings don’t get missed, and penalties get avoided.

All companies are required to have an address within the jurisdiction that they are incorporated in (a Registered Address).

For a lot of small companies the cost of having a physical office is one they prefer to forgo, instead operating on a virtual or mobile basis.  This, however, presents the problem of what address do you use to receive company post and act as that legally required registered office address

Commissioning Indigo Secretarial to provide your registered office address as well as being your company secretary means your post gets dealt with on a timely basis, critical documents don’t go missing and deadlines don’t get missed.

The appointment of a Significant Controllers Register Designated Representative is a requirement of the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance for Hong Kong SAR registered companies.

This appointment does not exist under UK company law.

To enhance transparency of corporate beneficial ownership in order to fulfil Hong Kong’s international obligations, the Companies Ordinance was amended as of 1 March 2018 to require a company incorporated in Hong Kong to obtain and maintain up-to-date beneficial ownership information, by way of keeping a Significant Controllers Register (“SCR”), for inspection by law enforcement officers upon demand.

In addition, the company is required to designate a representative to serve as a contact point for providing information about the SCR and related assistance to law enforcement officers.

Indigo Secretarial (Hong Kong) as a company licensed to carry on business as trust or company service provider can act as that designated representative.

Interested in seeing how our services could benefit your business, or know someone who may be interested in our services?

Please get in touch and let’s workout how we can support you in building your business, and help you achieve your business goals.