Last year saw 73,359 new local companies incorporated, up 11.9% on 2004, the Companies Registry says. However, the number of new overseas companies that had established business here and registered fell 15.65%, to 620.

The total number of live companies and overseas companies registered was 549,232 and 7,488, up 30,252 and 209 from the end of 2004.

Meanwhile, the registry has expanded its prosecution programme by increasing the number of summonses issued since July last year.

Summonses issued doubled

The total number of summonses issued last year against companies for breaches of the Companies Ordinance, mainly for failure to file annual returns, was 3,462, compared with 1,474 in 2004. 

The year also saw 1,467 convictions and 541 cases remain to be heard by courts, compared with 676 and 370 in 2004. The total amount of fines imposed for convictions last year was about $9.6 million, compared with some $5.7 million in 2004.

The number of charges on companies' assets received last year rose 10.17%, to 33,470. The number of satisfactions and releases received also rose 23.57%, to 26,945.

During the year, a total of 269 prospectuses, including 96 mutual funds, were registered, compared with 334 prospectuses, including 174 mutual funds, in 2004.

The total number of documents received for filing grew 0.92%, to 1.65 million.  From January 1 to February 27 last year, a total of 225,919 public searches on records in microfiche and paper files were made.

2.19m electronic searches recorded

About  2.19 million public searches on document image records were made between February 28 and December 31 last year through the registry's electronic search services.

Regarding the use of the computerised database in 2005, the number of searches on the computerised index of directors went down 12.54%, to 133,996.  The number of company particulars reports issued rose 12.93%, to 107,872.