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Programme with MBS collateralised by mortgage loans from HKMC's retained mortgage portfolio. A total of $4.1 billion of MBS were outstanding under the Bauhinia MBS Programme at the end of the year.
Companies Registry
The Companies Registry administers and enforces the major part of the CO. It registers local and non-Hong Kong companies, deregisters defunct solvent private companies, registers documents required to be submitted by registered companies and provides the public with services and facilities to inspect and obtain company information kept by the registry. It also administers and enforces several other ordinances including the Trustee Ordinance (insofar as it relates to trust companies), the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance and the Limited Partnerships Ordinance. The registry is also responsible for a wide range of legal, policy and regulatory matters related to the relevant ordinances as well as corporate governance.
The registry has operated a trading fund department since 1993. Consequently, it can deploy its resources more flexibly when needed to meet business turnover and customers' demands and expectations. The department achieved a surplus of $118.6 million in the 2006-07 financial year. The surplus generated over the past years had enabled the registry to build up a healthy reserve to finance the department's development projects and had removed the need to raise fees since December 1997.
The registry has continued to implement the Strategic Change Plan to fully computerise the department's operations and enable delivery of services in filing, processing, storing and obtaining documents or information electronically. Implementation of the plan will lead to a significant reduction in the time taken to process documents, enable timely updating and disclosure of company information, enhance data security and integrity, and increase productivity. The two-phase development of an integrated Companies Registry Information System is an integral part of the plan. The electronic search services developed under Phase I have been well received by customers and over 98 per cent of company searches are now conducted online. Phase II, which includes the provision of electronic filing services for incorporation and document registration, is expected to be implemented by 2010.
During the year, 100 761 local companies were incorporated. By year-end, 655 038 local companies were on the register, compared with 591 944 in 2006.
Companies incorporated outside Hong Kong must enrol with the registry within one month of setting up business in Hong Kong. During 2007, 748 non-Hong Kong companies were registered and, by year-end, there were 8 081 non-local companies from 81 countries registered in Hong Kong.