On June 23, 2017, the official Hong Kong government publication published a draft amendment in the Ordinance on the Companies (Companies (Amendment) Bill 2017). The changes were adopted as the additional measures in combating with money laundering and financing of terrorism, and they are designed to bring the corporate legislation of jurisdiction in compliance with the international standards of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering). The project provides for the introduction of two requirements for Hong Kong companies, one of which is the maintenance of public registries of the beneficiaries or “persons with significant control over the companies” (Register of People with Significant control). “Significant controllers” refer to the persons owning directly or indirectly of more than 25% of the company’s assets, as well as entitled to exercise significant influence over its activities.
The second change concerns the introduction of the mandatory licensing for the providers of trust and corporate services. The license, which has validity for 3 years, will need to be received within 90 days, starting from January 1, 2018. The administrative liability will be imposed for non-compliance with this requirement in the form of paying fines of up to several hundred thousand HK dollars or, in extreme cases, imprisonment for up to 6 months. The licensing, as well as the storage of the list of service providers will be carried out by Hong Kong Companies Registry. The same body will monitor the compliance with the law with the right to suspend or revoke the license. The documents can be submitted electronically, even though the procedure promises to be fairly simple, the applicants will have to pass a fit and proper test. There are no requirements concerning the education and experience of the providers of corporate services, but bankruptcy or the existence of previous convictions by AML-law, as well as drug trafficking and financing of terrorism will cause the application to be rejected. Hong Kong has adopted amendments in Ordinance on companies
On June 23, 2017, the official Hong Kong government publication published a draft amendment in the Ordinance on the Companies (Companies (Amendment) Bill 2017). The changes were adopted as the additional measures in combating with money laundering and financing of terrorism, and they are designed to bring the corporate legislation of jurisdiction in compliance with the international standards of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering). The project provides for the introduction of two requirements for Hong Kong companies, one of which is the maintenance of public registries of the beneficiaries or “persons with significant control over the companies” (Register of People with Significant control). “Significant controllers” refer to the persons owning directly or indirectly of more than 25% of the company’s assets, as well as entitled to exercise significant influence over its activities.
The second change concerns the introduction of the mandatory licensing for the providers of trust and corporate services. The license, which has validity for 3 years, will need to be received within 90 days, starting from January 1, 2018. The administrative liability will be imposed for non-compliance with this requirement in the form of paying fines of up to several hundred thousand HK dollars or, in extreme cases, imprisonment for up to 6 months. The licensing, as well as the storage of the list of service providers will be carried out by Hong Kong Companies Registry. The same body will monitor the compliance with the law with the right to suspend or revoke the license. The documents can be submitted electronically, even though the procedure promises to be fairly simple, the applicants will have to pass a fit and proper test. There are no requirements concerning the education and experience of the providers of corporate services, but bankruptcy or the existence of previous convictions by AML-law, as well as drug trafficking and financing of terrorism will cause the application to be rejected.