INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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Kong. Registration confers the same rights as though the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom with an extension of Hong Kong. A total of 271 patents were registered during the year, compared with 249 in 1964.
COMPANIES
The Companies Registry keeps records of all companies incor- porated in Hong Kong and also of all foreign corporations which have established a place of business in the Colony. Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, which is based on the (now superseded) Companies Act 1929, of Great Britain. On incorporation a company pays a registration fee of $100 plus $2 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. In all, 1,256 new companies were incorporated during the year-183 less than the record total of 1,439 in 1964. This decrease was due to a recession in the real estate market, which resulted in a decrease from 419 to 140 in the number of real estate companies incorporated. The nominal capital of new companies registered during 1965 totalled $794,307,350, a decrease of 40.95 per cent over the corresponding figure for the previous year. Of the new companies, 28 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or more. At the end of the year there were 9,499 local companies on the register compared with 8,364 in 1964.
Companies incorporated outside Hong Kong are required to register certain documents with the Companies Registry within one month of establishing a place of business in the Colony. Only small filing fees are payable in such cases. During the year 51 foreign companies were registered and 25 ceased to operate. By the end of the year there were 570 foreign companies registered, compared with 544 in 1964. Usually for tax reasons, many foreign companies incorporate subsidiaries in Hong Kong in preference to operating a branch office.
Local and foreign insurance companies which wish to transact life, fire or marine insurance business in Hong Kong must comply with the provisions of the Life Insurance Ordinance and the Fire and Marine Insurance Companies Deposit Ordinance respectively. In addition to the filing of annual accounts, these ordinances require deposits to be made with the Registrar of Companies unless the company qualifies for exemption by complying with the Insurance