Summary:
- Every Hong Kong company needs a secretary by law
- The legal requirements are to have a Hong Kong Id – meaning to be a Hong Kong resident, but other factors can also be important when hiring one
- Responsibilities include keeping minutes between board meetings and documentation
Introduction
In this article, we will discuss
- when a Hong Kong company secretary is needed
- the requirements to become a Hong Kong company secretary
- the role and responsibilities of a Hong Kong company secretary in a Hong Kong company
- how to qualify for a good Hong Kong company secretary
- the costs of a Hong Kong company secretary
- inhouse versus professional firm: What is better?
Hong Kong company secretary: When is it needed?
A Hong Kong company secretary is obligatory for all Hong Kong companies.
Here is the section of the law in case you want to read it for yourself.
As a professional accountant firm, we always cite our knowledge, so
- our customers can trust us easily
- have peace of mind that we go strictly by law
- no one can sue them
It is mandatory regardless of whether the company is
- labeled as an offshore company
- it has only one director (and no other employees)
- it is owned by a foreigner (not living in Hong Kong or having a HK citizenship)
We mention these specifically, as many of our customers are foreigners who open a Hong Kong company and are not sure whether this law applies to them – but it does.
Further reading:
Read more about all essential aspects to keep in mind as a foreigner when opening a Hong Kong company.
Hong Kong company secretary: What are the requirements?
By law, there is only one requirement:
The Hong Kong company secretary has to have a Hong Kong Id.
A Hong Kong Id is given to any permanent resident in Hong Kong – people who live in Hong Kong legally for longer than 6 months per calendar year.
Other than that, there are no other requirements, but just with many other things in life:
Just because it is not a legal requirement does not mean that it can be done by anyone with a high standard.
To understand what high quality means, we discuss the responsibilities of a Hong Kong company secretary first.
Hong Kong company secretary: What are the responsibilities?
The Hong Kong company secretary ensures that your Hong Kong company is compliant with laws and regulations of Hong Kong.
This includes tasks such as:
- Maintaining statutory records (register of directors, shareholders, etc.).
- Filing annual returns and other documents with the Companies Registry.
- Preparing board meetings and shareholder meetings (notices, agendas, minutes)
- Advising directors on compliance with the Companies Ordinance and the company’s Articles of Association.
- Safekeeping the company seal and official records.
Most of them become even more important for further use cases such as:
- if you want to apply for the 0% tax benefit as an offshore company
- if you live in a different country and want to prove that board meetings are not held within your country of residency to not trigger taxes (such as for Hong company owners in Cyprus
So documenting everything in the right format at the right time and keeping them in the right order to find them again when needed is very important.
Hong Kong company secretary: How to qualify?
The best scenario is that the person you are hiring already has experience as Hong Kong company secretary for another company and even better:
- he is familiar with your industry
- he is familiar with laws around hong kong offshore companies (in case you want to apply for it)
- he is proactive and knows how to communicate with government officials
We don’t advise just appointing a random Hong Kong person to be your Hong Kong secretary.
You could just hire a student in Hong Kong to be your company secretary, but the costs of mistakes may come a few months or years later:
- fees for turning in documents too late or not at all
- no offshore company label due to missing documentation
Watch this video to understand how important documentation is to actually receive the 0% tax benefit for a Hong Kong company:
For example, our company secretaries are all accountants, so they are not only familiar with company secretary tasks, but also accountant documentation which makes it very beneficial for our customers.
We usually have specific accountants for specific industries to keep the quality high and make sure that we have knowledge in each business domain.
To find out how our company secretary service can work for you, book a consultation call with us.
Hong Kong company secretary: The costs?
The costs can vary of course on whether you do self-hire a person (in-house) or give it to a professional firm to handle it for you.
In the first case, it could also be for free if you have a Hong Kong friend who is willing to take over the responsibility as a Hong Kong company secretary.
In the second case, it depends on the firm.
We as a licensed accountant firm make a whole package that includes everything that is needed for a Hong Kong company
- company secretary
- opening a Hong Kong company
- tax-advice based on your situation
- annual renewal
- application for the offshore company label
- etc.
This way you don’t need to think any further about what else you need to book or be scared of additional fees.
Usually the cost can be around 2k USD to 3k USD per year for an all-inclusive service, but this also depends on your specific business use case.
Hong Kong company secretary: In-house versus professional firm – what is better?
Very good question and the answer to all good questions is: It depends.
If you want to minimize short-term costs:
An in-house company secretary is probably the cheapest, but be aware that it may cost more if things go wrong.
If you want to maximize quality, less headaches and stress:
Then a professional firm may be the best for you who just handles everything for you without you having to think further.
Especially, as a foreigner who opens a Hong Kong company we advise to look for a professional firm as the lack of knowledge can very fast make it a nightmare.
