ENG-1971 — Page 70

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

from the date of its issue, apply to have it registered in Hong Kong under the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance. Registration confers the same rights as though the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom with an extension to Hong Kong. A total of 430 patents were registered during the year, compared with 506 in 1970.

COMPANIES

The Companies Registry keeps records of all companies in- corporated in Hong Kong and also of all foreign corporations which have established a place of business in the Colony. Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, which is based on the (now superseded) Companies Act 1929 of Great Britain. However, the Companies Law Revision Committee which has been considering the revision of the ordinance submitted its first report, dealing with the Protection of Investors, in June 1971. The committee is now considering the remaining aspects of company legislation.

On incorporation a company pays a registration fee of $100 plus $2 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. In 1971, 3,847 new companies were incorporated, 428 more than the total incorporated in 1970. The nominal capital of new companies registered during 1971 totalled $2,125,930,193, 4.3 per cent less than the corresponding figure for the previous year. Of the new companies, 56 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or more. At the end of the year there were 21,622 local companies on the register compared with 18,229 on December 31, 1970.

Companies incorporated outside Hong Kong are required to register certain documents with the Companies Registry within one month of establishing a place of business in the Colony. Only small filing fees are payable in such cases. During the year 107 such companies were registered and 40 ceased to operate. By the end of the year there were 763 companies registered from 47 countries, including 196 from the United States, 95 from the United Kingdom and 79 from Japan. Usually for tax reasons, many non-local com- panies incorporate a subsidiary in Hong Kong in preference to operating a branch office.

All insurance companies wishing to transact life, fire or marine insurance business in Hong Kong must comply with the provisions of the Life Insurance Companies Ordinance or the Fire and Marine Insurance Companies Deposit Ordinance. In addition to the filing of annual accounts, these ordinances require deposits to be made with the Registrar of Companies, unless the company qualifies for