ENG-1980 — Page 61

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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in Hong Kong. Registration of a United Kingdom patent or European Pattent (UK) in Hong Kong confers on the grantee the same privileges and rights as if the patent had been granted in the United Kingdom with an extension to Hong Kong. The privileges and rights run from the commencement of the term of the patent in the United Kingdom, and continue as long as the patent remains in force there. A total of 718 patents were registered during the year, compared with 893 in 1979.

Companies

The Companies Registry of the Registrar General's Department keeps records of all companies incorporated in Hong Kong and of all foreign corporations that have established a place of business in Hong Kong.

Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance which is, to a large extent, still based on the Companies Act 1929-formerly in force in Britain but now replaced by the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967. However, as a result of implementing a number of recommendations made by the Companies Law Revision Committee (June, 1971, and April, 1973), several-parts of the ordinance notably those dealing with prospectuses, accounts and audit - have been amended. These parts now incorporate most of the relevant provisions of the Companies Acts of 1948 and 1967. A lengthy bill incorporating most of the recommendations in the committee's Second Report, which have not already been implemented by legislation, was published in the Government Gazette of July 18, 1980, and members of the public were invited to make comments on it before the end of October. On incorporation, a company pays a registration fee of $300, plus $4 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. In 1980, 14,596 new companies were incorporated - 4,312 more than in 1979. The nominal capital of new companies registered totalled $4,755 million. Of the new companies, 211 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or more. During the year, 3,795 companies increased their nominal capital by amounts totalling $18,903 million, on which fees were paid at the same rate of $4 per $1,000. At the end of 1980, there were 81,206 local companies on the register, compared with 67,429 in 1979.

ミ The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 1979, which implements, with modifications, the recommendations made in Chapter 3 of the Second Report (1973) of the Companies Law Revision Committee in respect of the replacement of lost share certificates, came into effect on June 23, 1980.

Companies incorporated overseas are required to register certain documents with the Companies Registry within one month of establishing a place of business in Hong Kong. Only small filing fees are payable in such cases. During the year, 182 of these companies were registered and 53 ceased to operate. At the end of 1980, 1,398 companies were regis- tered from 54 countries, including 341 from the United States, 195 from Britain and 154 from Japan.

All insurance companies wishing to transact life, fire or marine insurance business in Hong Kong must comply with the provisions of either 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 is exempt. This exemption depends on the obtaining of a certificate from the insurance division of the Department of Trade in London, stating that the company is authorised under the Insurance Companies Act 1974 to carry on insurance business in Britain, or in the case of fire and marine insurance is main- taining similar deposits elsewhere in the Commonwealth. The approval of the Registrar General must be obtained for transacting motor vehicle third party risks insurance business.