Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1963-1964 — Page 28

72. 106 companies were dissolved during the year as follows:

By Members' Voluntary Winding-up Struck off the Register under Section 276

61

45

106

Table X gives an analysis of these 106 companies according to the nature of their business. The main casualties were as usual in import and export companies (31). Shipping, shipbuilding and shipbreaking companies lost 11, and land and building companies and textile companies 6 each.

73. With 1,251 new companies and 106 dissolutions there was a net increase of 1,145 in the number of companies on the register, which on 31st March 1964 stood at 7,354, comprising 538 public companies and 6,816 private companies.

74. It is of some interest to compare the Colony's statistics of new incorporations with the corresponding statistics for Scotland where the population is about 5,200,000, as compared with Hong Kong's 3,642,500, that is to say roughly half as much again. In Scotland 1,514 companies were incorporated in the year ended 31st March 1964 with an aggregate share capital of £11,789,946, which assuming say 34 were incorporated without share capital gives an average of about £8,000 or $128,000 per company with one share capital; in Hong Kong 1,200 companies were incorporated with capitals totalling some $782,000,000 giving an average of over $650,000 or say £40,000, five times the average in Scotland. The total number of companies in Scotland as at 31st March 1964 was probably about 21,000, which is roughly three times the Hong Kong total of 7,354.

75. The number of documents received for filing and of inspections of files by the public rose to the new record figures of 23,580 documents received and 10,605 inspections made.

76. In consequence of the constant filing of annual and other statutory returns, the files of a great many companies had become exceedingly bulky. In order to reduce the bulk of these files it was decided last year to remove all annual returns except those for the last two years, and work on this was completed during 1963-64. The old returns are of course retained in separate files and may also be inspected if desired.

77. Although under no statutory obligation to do so, the Companies Registry sends reminders in respect of failures to file Annual Returns and other documents within the prescribed periods, and every year publishes advertisements calling attention to the statutory requirements.

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