New Inspection Regime

Accounting and tax returns, Company Secretary, Corporate tax returns, Directors/Shareholders, Incorporation of a limited company, Transfer of shares of the company, 未分類

Restrict disclosure of residential address and identification numbers

Under the new Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), a regime has been introduced to strike a balance between the protection of privacy and the need for public access to personal data. As at January 2013, the personal information of more than one million directors and former directors is on the Companies Register.

Main Provisions

  1. Protected Data :

– In accordance with section 54, the directors’ usual residential addresses and full identification numbers will not be disclosed.

  1. Address Request :

– Directors are required to provide a correspondence address, which is only shown in the register.

  1. Identification number

– Some digits of the identification number will be obscured and only part of the number will be displayed (e.g. A123***(*)).

  1. Data Access Request:

– Under section 49, information already contained in the register may not be made public until the relevant person has made an application and paid the fee. If the address is not disclosed, the correspondence address will be used instead.

  1. Data Disclosure Procedure:

– Under sections 55 and 56, if the director’s correspondence address is not reachable, the Registrar may, after considering appeal, register the director’s usual residential address in the public information for a period of five years.

  1. Court Applications:

– Under sections 52 and 59, a creditor or interested person may apply to the court for disclosure of undisclosed protected information.

  1. Access Restrictions:

– Only company members, public officers, public bodies, liquidators and other designated persons have access to unpublished information.

  1. Data Masking Progress:

– The Companies Registry is gradually redacting information for established limited companies, with the final register showing only correspondence addresses and partially redacted identification numbers.

The new ordinance also applies to companies that have been revoked, restricting the disclosure of personal data in the Companies Register, with the aim of protecting the privacy of individuals and meeting the public’s demand for information.

Registrar of Companies

https://www.cr.gov.hk/tc/legislation/nir/faq/Phase2/general.htm

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