Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1970-1971 — Page 39

Companies incorporated outside the Colony

86. 91 companies incorporated outside the Colony established a place of business within the Colony and complied with the provisions of Part XI of the Ordinance. At the end of the year there were 713 such companies registered as compared with 655 the year before. Table XVI shows the countries in which these 713 companies are incorporated. The United States leads with 183 companies, and is followed by the United Kingdom with 94, Japan 73, Panama 63, Australia 39, Singapore 38, Switzerland 28, China 24, and Canada and Malaysia 19 each.

87. Table XVII gives an analysis of the 713 companies to which the preceding paragraph refers according to the nature of their business. This shows that the total includes 140 import and export companies, 81 insurance companies, 53 shipping etc. companies, 48 banks, 38 carriers (air and land), 38 religious bodies, 38 engineering etc. companies, and 33 land and building companies.

Liquidations in Progress

88. At the end of the year 394 companies were in the course of being wound up as follows:

Liquidations begun prior to 1.4.70

Liquidations begun during 1970-71

By Members' Voluntary Winding-up By Creditors' Voluntary Winding-up By Winding-up by the Court

137

128

10

4

107

8

***

254

140

Appointment of Inspectors

89. The Companies Ordinance provides that the Financial Secretary may in certain circumstances, e.g. upon application by a specified number or proportion of the members of a company, appoint one or more com- petent inspectors to investigate the affairs of the company and to report thereon in such manner as the Financial Secretary may direct. In Great Britain such authority is vested in the Board of Trade. Since such pro- visions were first included in the Companies Ordinance in 1963, two requests for appointment of an inspector have been received, one in respect of a company limited by shares and the other in respect of a company limited by guarantee. No inspector was, however, appointed in either case.

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