Start-up: What are the minimum requirements of forming a new HK company?

A private limited company must have at least:

1 Shareholder (natural person/ corporate/ HK resident/ non-HK resident);
1 Director (at least 1 natural person over 18 years old);
a Company Secretary (must be a HK resident or HK company); and
a Registered Office (must be based in HK)

Any natural person or legal entity can at the same time be a shareholder and a director. However, if there is only 1 director, that “person’ must be a natural person and cannot be the company secretary of the same company.

If the secretary is an individual person, there are no restrictions on his nationality but he must reside in Hong Kong. If the secretary is a corporate, that corporate must be a HK company.

There are no restrictions on the nationality and domicile of the shareholder and director.

The number of shareholders is limited to 49 or less. A public company is needed if there are 50 or more shareholders.

There is no limit on the number of directors. From corporate governance perspective, it is recommended not to have too many directors though.

In addition to the company’s particulars, the following documents of Directors & Shareholders need to be uploaded to our Online Form:

1) A copy of HKID card/ Passport
2) A copy of Address Proof *

* Utility/ Bank correspondence with Full Name and Residential Address printed on it, issued within the recent 3 months