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THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1990
NO SEPARATE STATISTICS ARE MAINTAINED ON HOW MANY OVERSEAS COMPANIES INCORPORATE LOCAL SUBSIDIARIES OR TAKE UP A MAJORITY SHARE-HOLDING IN A HONG KONG COMPANY.
EXISTING COMPANIES INCREASED THEIR NOMINAL CAPITAL BY #27,406 MILLION, A DECREASE OF 39 PER CENT OVER THE INCREASE OF $45,052 MILLION IN 1988, WHILE THE NOMINAL CAPITAL OF NEW COMPANIES INCORPORATED DURING THE YEAR DECREASED BY 23 PER CENT MILLION TO $3.371 MILLION.
FROM $4,400
THE ASSETS MILLION TO
THE TOTAL AMOUNT SECURED BY CHARGES REGISTERED ON OF COMPANIES INCREASED BY 250 PER CENT FROM $76,515 $267,925 MILLION WHILE THE AMOUNT REPAID ON CHARGES, AS EVIDENCED BY CERTIFICATES OF SATISFACTION, INCREASED BY 78 PER CENT FROM $7,539 MILLION TO $13,415 MILLION.
DURING THE YEAR A TOTAL OF 127 PROSPECTUSES OF PUBLIC COMPANIES, INCLUDING 65 IN RESPECT OF MUTUAL FUNDS, WERE APPROVED COMPARED WITH 153 PROSPECTUSES, INCLUDING 67 IN RESPECT OF MUTUAL FUNDS, DURING THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DOCUMENTS RECEIVED FOR FILING DURING THE YEAR INCREASED BY 22 PER CENT FROM 692,571 TO 842,763.
THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR THE RESERVATION OF NAMES DURING 1989 WAS 194,765 WHICH WAS A 19 PER CENT 240,679 IN 1988.
NEW COMPANY DECREASE ON
THE
THE FIGURES FOR 1989 INDICATED THAT IN THE SECOND SIX MONTHS OF 1989, 12,174 COMPANIES WERE REGISTERED COMPARED WITH 19,500 IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS, AND THE NUMBER OF NAMES RESERVED SHOW THAT IN FIRST SIX MONTHS 116,970 NAMES WERE RESERVED COMPARED WITH 77,796 THE SECOND SIX MONTHS, INDICATING A SLOWER RATE OF EXPANSION IN SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR.
IN
THE
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS TAKEN BY THE REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES AGAINST COMPANIES AND THEIR DIRECTORS FOR BREACHES OF THE COMPANIES ORDINANCE, MAINLY FOR FAILURE TO FILE ANNUAL RETURNS WITH ACCOUNTS, IN 1989 WAS 217. ANOTHER 182 SUMMONSES WERE OUTSTANDING FROM 1988.
OF THIS TOTAL OF 399 SUMMONSES, 211 RESULTED IN CONVICTIONS (COMPARED WITH 232 IN 1988) AND 87 REMAINED TO BE HEARD BY THE COURT.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FINES IMPOSED FOR CONVICTIONS IN 1989 WAS $597,570, COMPARED WITH $446,715 IN 1988.
MR GLEESON EXPRESSED DISSATISFACTION WITH THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF COMPANY NAMES RESERVATION UNDER THE COMPANIES ORDINANCE. THAT SYSTEM HAD BECOME UNWORKABLE IN PRACTICE, AND IT HAD BEEN DECIDED THAT IT SHOULD BE DISCONTINUED IN FAVOUR OF A NEW SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE ONE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OTHER JURISDICTIONS.
/UNDER THE
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