Foreign Shareholding In Companies In Hong Kong

By Author: Bryan Wong
Total Articles: 11
Comment this article

Hong Kong is one of the most important cities in the Asian continent and is also considered as a bridge between the east and the west. It is the preferred city for locating the regional headquarters of a multinational company and is also the leading financial center of the world. Due to Hong Kong’s importance in the global business community along with the numerable advantages of doing business in the city, a lot of foreign entrepreneurs as well as investors prefer forming a company in Hong Kong.

Foreigners can complete their entire company setup within a matter of a week and the laws and regulations are quite straightforward for the foreign owned company formation in the city. As far as shareholding is concerned for Hong Kong companies, foreigners are allowed 100 per cent ownership i.e. they can hold the entire shares of the business in Hong Kong. The only eligibility criteria to own a Hong Kong Company is that the foreign owner needs to be at least eighteen years of age. They may be from any country and may even manage the business in Hong Kong from overseas. The foreign owner may also act as the company director ...
... as a sole person is allowed to act as both the director and shareholder of a Hong Kong based business.

If a foreign entrepreneur wants to buy shares in an existing company in Hong Kong, they are allowed to do so as well. There are no restrictions on the percentage of shares they may buy in the existing company. They may even fully take over management of the company if required. To buy shares and transfer ownership, the foreign buyer will have to follow the guidelines as set by the company law in Hong Kong and also apply with the Companies Registrar in the city. Transfer of ownership even part ownership needs to be duly informed to the concerned authorities and must be reflected in all public notification requirements in Hong Kong.

Shares in a Hong Kong Company can be held by either a foreigner who is an individual and or a foreign corporate entity. For individual shareholders, they will have to submit their residence proof, identity proof and a copy of their passport while setting up a new company in Hong Kong. For corporate entities, they have to submit a copy of their current incorporation certificate and other details verifying their existence in another country.

Author Bio
Bryan Wong is a business analyst in the Asia-Pacific region and in his free time writes business articles. In this article, Bryan talks about Hong Kong wholly-owned subsidiary and Register Hong Kong company.