CONFIDENTIAL
ACCESS TO 1 1/2 ALL PANEL
1.
The more important shipowning companies and one or two of the lesser
ones have discussed with us their organisation and status with reference to the
way in which possible restrictions on access would affect them, if at all. The
attached paper has been used as a basis for discussion.
2.
The Hong Kong interest in restricting access to begin with has been
emphasised and this has met with wide acceptance on the understanding that it
is intended as an interim measure only.
3.
In the light of the discussions held so far, the following solution is
recommended. The register should be open to :
(a)
ships registered in Hong Kong on
(b) ships owned by qualifying owners.
'qualifying owners would in the case of companies be defined as companies which (1) were registered in Hong Kong (11) had a board of directors the majority of whom were either Hong Kong or U.K. persons (111) ultimately controlled either in
Hong Kong or the U.K.
4.
The drafting details for such a provision will be included in the final
report together with details of the way in which it would affect the various
shipowning companies and matters such as leaseback arrangements, chains of holding companies, joint ventures. There d also the question of the need for
a discretionery power, and means of enforcement which will be covered in the final repét.
5.
(a)
(3)
(c)
The reasons for recommending the above solution are as follows :
it seems right for a separate Hong Kong register to require
owning companies to incorporate in Hong Kong; even flag of
convenience registers require owning companies to incorporate
in the country of registry; if the Hong Kong register did not,
its requirements would thus be more lax than e.g. Liberia's and
this would be both presentationally and practically unfortunate;
Hong Kong shipowners favour this requirement for the long term
as well as the short terin.
It is necessary to permit UK control so as to admit well established Hong Kong shipowners like Jardines and B & S.
It is desirable to exclude foreign-controlled companies because
they might overload the Hong Kong Survey Service in the carly
years and give the register the reputation of a flag of convenience;
/(a) the
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