UNCLASSIFIED
FM FCO
TO IMMEDIATE BTC HONG KONG
TELNO 1
OF 0313OOZ JANUARY 92
150751
MDHOAN 7254
UNCLASSIFIED
нко 34013
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
PERSONAL FOR SBTC FROM COX, HKD
YOUR TELNO 372 OF 20 DECEMBER 1991: HONG KONG PASSPORT SCHEME AND BRITISH UNDERTAKINGS
1.
WE WELL UNDERSTAND THE NEED TO EXPEDITE THE PROCESSING OF
THE OUTSTANDING BRITISH UNDERTAKINGS AND ARE KEEN TO DO ALL WE CAN TO HELP. WE ARE FAXING TO YOU THE LISTS OF 441 COMPANIES (NOT/NOT 299) SUBMITTED UNDER COVER OF YOUR LETTER ECO 014/8 OF 14 NOVEMBER, AND THE LIST OF 78 COMPANIES COVERED BY ECO 014/8 OF 19 DECEMBER, AS NOW PROCESSED BY THE DTI. AS YOU WILL SEE, 402 COMPANIES ON THE FIRST LIST AND 53 COMPANIES ON THE SECOND LIST ARE MARKED WITH A TICK, INDICATING THAT THEY ARE REGISTERED AT COMPANIES HOUSE. THE REMAINDER (MARKED WITH A CROSS) DO NOT SHOW UP ON THE COMPANIES HOUSE COMPUTER, AND (AS YOU SAY) VERIFYING THEM WILL NOT BE EASY.
2.
WE PROPOSE TO CONCENTRATE OUR EFFORTS ON ATTEMPTING TO IDENTIFY AS MANY OF THESE OUTSTANDING COMPANIES AS POSSIBLE (NOT WITHSTANDING THE PAUCITY OF INFORMATION PROVIDED IN MANY CASES EG, ''MADUSA SALON, LONDON''), DRAFTING IN SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES IF WE CAN GET THEM. WE WOULD PREFER IT IF THIS COULD BE A ONCE AND FOR ALL EFFORT, AND TO THIS END NOTE THAT YOU WILL SHORTLY BE SENDING US A LIST OF A FURTHER 500 COMPANIES. WILL THIS BE THE LAST LIST, AND IF NOT, CAN HKID INDICATE HOW MANY MORE COMPANIES WE WILL BE ASKED TO VERIFY AND WHEN THEY CAN LET US HAVE THEM? (IF THEY HAVE NOT YET PROCESSED ALL THE APPLICATION FORMS, A ROUGH ESTIMATE WOULD BE HELPFUL. THIS COULD BE BASED PRO RATA ON THE NUMBER OF NEW QUERIES THROWN UP BY THE NUMBER OF APPLICATION FORMS SO FAR
PROCESSED). WE COULD THEN PLAN TO MARSHALL OUR RESOURCES IN THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO COPE WITH THE EXPECTED WORKLOAD.
3. INCIDENTALLY, YOU WILL NOTE THAT THE DTI HAVE IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF COMPANIES WHICH HAVE EITHER BEEN DISSOLVED OR ARE CURRENTLY IN LIQUIDATION. FCO AND HOME OFFICE LEGAL ADVISERS ARE SATISFIED THAT THE PRESENT STATUS OF A COMPANY IS IRRELEVANT
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