The Companies Registry today announced that 50,087 local companies were newly registered during the first half of 2022, bringing the total number of registered local companies to 1,386,592.

Meanwhile, 415 non-Hong Kong companies have newly established a place of business in the city and were registered under the Companies Ordinance. The total number of registered non-Hong Kong companies reached 14,481 as of end-June.

Registrar of Companies Kitty Tsui said: "To meet the rising expectations and changing needs of businesses and the public, the registry has extended its electronic submission services since June 27.”

Currently, 43 newly covered documents can be delivered electronically through the e-Registry portal or GovHK.

From January to June, the number of charges on properties of companies received for registration was 9,154, while the number of notifications of payments and releases was 9,654. There were also 1,326,939 documents delivered to the registry for registration.

For electronic search services, 2,225,769 searches of document image records were conducted.

As for the licensing of trust or company service providers, 336 licences were granted, resulting in 6,840 licensees up to mid-2022.

Separately, the registry noted that phase two of its new inspection regime under the Companies Ordinance will take effect on October 24 to protect sensitive personal information on the Index of Directors on the Companies Register and newly delivered documents. As such, 26 specified forms pertaining to the reporting of such sensitive personal information have been revised.

These revised forms should be used upon the implementation of phase two of the new inspection regime, the registry advised.