Registrar of Companies (Chairman), the Accountant General and the Commissioner of Inland Revenue as ex officio members, a Legal Adviser, and six other members appointed by the Governor, of whom five are practising accountants.
94. The Board inquires into the professional qualifications, experience, competency and character of all applicants for admission to the Authorized List of Auditors kept by the Registrar of Companies under Section 131(3)(a). This List is in two parts, Part I containing the names of persons authorized to audit accounts kept in English, Part II the names of those authorized to audit accounts kept in Chinese. The Board may also sit as a disciplinary tribunal, having power to issue a reprimand or order the removal of the name of an auditor from the List.
95. During the year the Board inquired into and approved the applica- tions of eighteen auditors and two auditing firms for admission to Part I, and of thirteen auditors and two auditing firms for admission to Part II, of the Authorized List. At the end of the year there were 135 individuals and 39 firms on Part I of the List and 112 individuals and 32 firms on Part II. Of these, 78 individuals and 28 firms were on both Parts. Out of the 135 accountants on Part I of the List 80 were Chinese. The im- portant part played by the Australian Society of Accountants in the training of accountants in Hong Kong is demonstrated by the fact that 49 of these 80 Chinese auditors are members of that Society.
Move of Registry
96. During the weekend of the 24th-25th August 1963 the Companies Registry including the Insurance Companies section moved from its former offices in the West Corridor of the 11th floor of the Central Govern- ment Offices, West Wing, to larger accommodation on the 6th floor of the same building. This had been specially altered to provide a better search area for people searching both companies and trade marks records, with the file room conveniently placed close by to facilitate the issue and return of files.
Fees
97. The total of all fees collected by the Companies Registry under all Ordinances declined by some $168,000 from the previous year's total to $3,020,806.13 made up as follows (with the previous year's figures for comparison):
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