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A registration fee of $500 and some small filing fees are payable in such cases. During the year, 288 of these companies were registered and 142 ceased to operate. At the end of the year, 2238 companies were registered from 64 countries, including 551 from the United States, 328 from the United Kingdom and 267 from Japan.
The Companies Registry also deals with the incorporation of trustees under the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance, and with the registration of limited part- nerships.
Insurance Division
The Insurance Companies Ordinance (Chapter 41), which came into operation on June 30, 1983, restricts the transaction of all classes of insurance business in or from Hong Kong to a company authorised to do so by the Insurance Authority, to Lloyd's of London, and to an association of underwriters approved by the Governor in Council.
The Registrar General, who has been appointed the Insurance Authority for the purposes of the ordinance, must be satisfied that certain conditions are met before authorising a company.
These include the suitability of the directors and controllers of the company; a minimum paid-up capital requirement of $5 million ($10 million in cases of companies undertaking both long-term and general business or statutory business, the latter meaning insurance cover required by statute); and a solvency margin requirement of $2 million ($4 million or $6 million in different cases depending on whether both long-term and general business are carried on, and whether statutory business is included).
There are 288 insurance companies, including 128 local companies, authorised to transact insurance business in Hong Kong.
In September, the 13th General Conference of the East Asian Insurance Congress was held in Hong Kong. The congress is an association founded in 1962 to develop interna- tional co-operation in the field of insurance among members in the East Asian countries; 1 020 insurance professionals from 29 countries participated in this conference.
Bankruptcies and Liquidations
During the year, there were 469 petitions in bankruptcy and 397 petitions for the compulsory winding-up of companies. The court made 385 receiving orders, six administra- tion orders and 304 winding-up orders, which were a slight decrease of 0.57 per cent in the number of cases in 1985. As in past years, the Official Receiver was appointed trustee or liquidator in most cases. Assets realised by the Official Receiver during 1986 amounted to $255 million. In addition to these compulsory liquidations, 1 625 companies went into voluntary liquidation 1 512 by members' voluntary winding-up and 113 by creditors'
voluntary winding-up.
Money Lenders
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Under the Money Lenders Ordinance, which came into force in December 1980, anyone wishing to carry on business as a money lender must apply to a Licensing Court, consisting of a magistrate and two lay assessors, for a licence. In the first instance, the application is submitted to the Registrar General as Registrar of Money Lenders and a copy is sent to the Commissioner of Police, who may object to the application.
The application is advertised, and any member of the public who has an interest in the matter also has the right to object. During the year, 399 applications were received and 402 licences were granted. At year-end, there were 417 licensed money lenders.