WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1979
COMPANIES REGISTERED NOW EXCEED 60,000
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THE NUMBER OF COMPANIES INCORPORATED IN HONG KONG HAS SURPASSED THE 60,000-MARK, THE REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES, MR. P. JACOBS SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
COMMENTING ON THE CONTINUING INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF INCORPORATED COMPANIES, MR. JACOBS SAID: THE INCORPORATION OF COMPANIES IN HONG KONG BEGAN IN 1865.
+ IT TOOK FROM THEN UNTIL 1966, THAT IS TO SAY, JUST MORE THAN 100 YEARS FOR THE FIRST 10,000 COMPANIES TO BE INCORPORATED,+
THE NEXT 10,000 COMPANIES APPEARED ON THE REGISTER IN THE FIVE YEARS FROM JULY 1966 TO JUNE 1971, MR. JACOBS ADDED,
HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT THE NEXT 10,000 COMPANIES WERE INCORPORATED IN THE TWO YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS FROM JULY 1971 TO OCTOBER 1973.
INCORPORATIONS CONTINUED WITH 10,000 COMPANIES INCORPORATED FROM NOVEMBER 1973 TO MARCH 1976 AND 10,000 BETWEEN APRIL 1976 AND JANUARY 1978.
IN THE ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS SINCE THEN THE NUMBER OF LOCAL COMPANIES INCORPORATED HAS RISEN BY ANOTHER 10,000 TO A TOTAL OF MORE THAN 60,000.
IN ADDITION, THERE ARE NOW 1,160 FOREIGN COMPANIES REGISTERED UNDER PART XI OF THE COMPANIES ORDINANCE. HOWEVER, THESE RECORDS DO NOT INCLUDE FOREIGN COMPANIES OPERATING IN HONG KONG THROUGH LOCAL AGENTS. ONLY THOSE WHICH HAVE ESTABLISHED A PLACE OF BUSINESS IN HONG KONG ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER WITH THE COMPANIES REGISTRY.
THESE COMPANIES ARE FROM AS MANY AS 51 COUNTRIES. THE UNITED STATES LEADS WITH 297 COMPANIES AND IS FOLLOWED BY THE UNITED KINGDOM WITH 153, AND JAPAN WITH 131.
THE FIRST FOREIGN COMPANY ON THE REGISTER IS THE AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL BANKING CORPORATION (FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, INCORPORATED) WHICH OBTAINED ITS POST-WAR REGISTRY IN 1946.
SINCE THEN 2,014 FOREIGN COMPANIES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED, BUT OVER THE YEARS 854 CEASED TO HAVE A PLACE OF BUSINESS IN HONG KONG AND WERE DE-REGISTERED.
+EVERY COMPANY ON THE REGISTER HAS TO FILE A VARIETY OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO ITS AFFAIRS, AND PEOPLE DEALING WITH COMPANIES OFTEN CALL AT THE COMPANIES REGISTRY TO INSPECT THE FILES,+ MR. JACOBS SAID.
+ IT WILL BE APPRECIATED, THEREFORE, THAT THE COMPANIES REGISTRY IS NOW MUCH BUSIER THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN AT ANY TIME IN ITS HISTORY,+ HE ADDED,
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