In early April, it became known that the Hong Kong government plans to restrict access to private information about directors of companies registered in the Hong Kong Registrar of Companies.
Companies that are already represented in the register will be able to block public access to the addresses of directors and secretaries of companies, as well as their full identification numbers. New companies will be able to hide information from the first day they are added to the register.
The Hong Kong SAR Company Registry contains basic information about Hong Kong companies, including basic information about the company (name in English / Chinese, registered address, registration number, share capital), as well as shareholders, directors and company secretaries. If the director of the company is an individual, when checking the company against the register, you can find out his name, surname, identity card (passport) number, as well as the address of residence.
In accordance with the plans of the Hong Kong government, changes to the rules of the register of companies will be introduced in three stages:
- after the entry into force of the new rules, companies will be exempted from the obligation to disclose the address of residence and the number of the identity card (passport) of company directors
- from October 2022, the information provided when performing registration actions will not be provided when checking companies in the register
- from December 2023, companies will be able to apply to the register with a statement on restricting access to information that was entered in the register before the start of the second stage (October 2022)
The new rules are expected to take effect immediately after the Hong Kong SAR Government publishes the new bylaw in the Official Gazette. Once published, the government is obliged to submit the new rules to the local parliament (Hong Kong SAR Legislative Council), which can amend the original draft within one month.
