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HSBC has introduced a new business account called “HSBC Business Direct” that requires no monthly fee and minimum account balance. Compared with the existing business account BusinessVantage, the HSBC Business Direct has the following features:

• No monthly fee;
• No monthly minimum balance;
• Counter service fees: $0 if there are less than 7 counter transactions per month, $75 if there are 7 to 12 transactions per month , and $10 per additional transaction.

Beside introducing the new Business Direct service, HSBC has also revised the fees of the existing BusinessVantage:

• If the average balance of 3 months is less than HKD $100,000, there is a service fee of HKD $150 per month;
• if the average balance is between HKD $100,000 and HKD $1million, the monthly fee is HKD $75;
• there is no monthly fee if the balance is above HKD $1million;
• unlimited free counter service

The service pricings are effective starting this Monday (Oct 27, 2008). For more information, please visit HSBC’s web site: http://www.commercial.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/commercial/accounts/businessdirect/

How do I know whether a Hong Kong shelf / pre-formed company is “safe” or not?

A shelf / pre-formed company is a company that has already been incorporated but has not conducted any business. Sometime people want to buy shelf companies because:

1. it takes about 3 working days to transfer a shelf company, while it takes up to six working days to form a brand new company;
2. transferring a shelf company does not require a witness, while forming a new company does;
3. there is no incorporation failure (such as name collision) because the company has already been formed;
4. there is no need to come up with a name.

Since a shelf company has already been formed before purchase, it is important to ensure the company does not have any liability. To ensure the company is “safe”:

• For shelf companies incorporated before July 16, 2008:
  1. There should be no director registered with the Companies Registry. Since there is no director, the companies are not operational;
  2. A letters issued by the subscriber indicating the company has not incurred any liability.
• For shelf companies incorporated on or after July 16, 2008:
  1. Beginning on July 11, 2008, the Companies Registry requires the appointments of first directors at the time of incorporation, therefore, all shelf companies registered on or after July 16, 2008 have directors and are operational right after incorporation. Because of that, the letters, issued by the founders indicating that the companies have not incurred any liability, are the only proof and protection for the purchasers.
  2. Since the “safety” of the shelf companies is not evidenced in the Companies Registry, one should purchase shelf companies from reliable sources, or simply form brand new companies.

How much does it cost annually to keep a Hong Kong company alive?

You should be aware of three sets of annual fees:

1. Company renewal fee:
   1. Annual Return
   2. Business Registration Renewal
   3. Company Secretary Renewal
   4. Registered Office renewal
2. Accounting and Auditing:
   1. The first accounting and auditing shall be done 18 months after incorporation, and every 12 months afterward.
3. Profit tax:
   1. which is 16.5% of the profit of the company. You also need to pay the provisional tax. For example, if you have to pay $5,000 tax, in the first year, you actually have to pay $10,000. The provisional tax of the previous year will be subtracted from the tax next year. For example, if you have to pay $8,000 tax on the following year, you have to pay $8,000 + $8,000 - $5,000 (provisional tax of the previous year) = $11,000.
4. De-registration
   1. If you decide not to continue the business, you need to de-register the company. If the company has conducted business, you also need to do accounting and auditing before the de-registration. If you do not de-register the company and file the Annual Return, the government will impose penalty, and the company will not be de-registered unless all penalty is paid.

If your company does not conduct business, then it does not have to do accounting and auditing, nor does it have to pay the profit tax.

Please note the following before choosing our registered office service:

• All banks in Hong Kong can send mails directly to overseas addresses. There is no need to send bank mails to us. Your corresponding address for the bank can be different from the registered address of the company.
• The Registered Office address belongs to the company and is not intended for personal use.
• If a mail is over 30g or too large for scanning, we will scan the front of the envelope or the way bill of the mail. Clients will need to arrange pick up of the over-sized mail
• We do not scan advertisements.

The Registered Office Service description should read as follow:

For HKD $800, we will scan only governmental mails.

For HKD $1,200, we will scan the mails under 30g addressed to the company.

Our Registered Office service is mostly for business startups. If you want more sophisticated virtual office service, you may want to check out http://www.regus.hk, as some of our clients use their services.

1. 致電 +852 2748 8238
2. 按選擇 “1″ 廣東話, 按”3″選擇普通話
3. 按”3″選擇和職員對話
4. 和職員對話:
   • 職員: “有什麼可以幫忙?”
   • ä½ : “我想預約開戶”
   • 職員: “明白. 你想在那裡開戶?”
   • ä½ : “銅鑼灣廣場第二期”
   • 職員: “在什麼時間?”
   • ä½ : 提供預約時間, 應該是星期一至星期五, 上午九時至下午五時.
   • 職員: “是什麼類型的公司?”
   • ä½ : “香港有限公司.”
   • 職員: “可否提供公司註冊編號?”
   • ä½ : 提供公司註冊編號. 如果没有說”没有”就是了.
5. 有時銀行會要你留下電話, 之後才回覆你. 如果電話是海外的, 銀行亦會回覆.
6. 預約過程完畢後, 職員會給你一個預約編號. 把它抄錄下來, 當你到銀行開戶時把預約編號給招待員就行了.

1. Call +852 2748 8238
2. Select your language. Press “2″ for English
3. Press “3″ to talk to an operator
4. Talk to the operator:
   • Operator: “What can I help you?”
   • You: “I want to make an appointment to open a business bank account”
   • Operator: “Where do you want to open the account?”
   • You: “Causeway Bay Plaza Phase 2″
   • Operator: “What time do you want to visit the office?”
   • You: provide the appointment time. It should be between 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
   • Operator: “What is the entity your business?”
   • You: “Hong Kong limited company”
   • Operator: “Do you have the number of the Certificate of Incorporation?”
   • You: provide the CI number. If you don’t have one, just say “I don’t have it.”.
5. Occasionally the operators are busy. You could leave your phone number, even an overseas phone number, and they would call you later.
6. After making the appointment, the operator would give you an appointment number. Copy it down and present it to the receptionist when you arrive the office.

滙豐銀行銅鑼灣中小企中心 (綠色氣球)是座落於銅鑼灣廣場二期二十三樓. 由我們的辦公室(紅色氣球)步行到中小企中心大約要十分鐘左右. 由銅鑼灣港鐵站 C 出口(祡色氣球)步行大約要三分鐘.

銅鑼灣廣場第二期有兩部分: 1) 商業大廈 2) 購物中心. 中小企中心是在商業大廈, 不是購物中心. 商業大廈的入口是在波斯富街的. 而滙豐銀行分行則是在購物中心內. 記得你是要到中小企中心, 不是銀行分行. 當你完成開戶程序後才到分行存款.

滙豐銀行銅鑼灣中小企中心的地址是:

香港銅鑼灣駱克道463-483號銅鑼灣廣場2期23樓2303室.

電話: (+852) 2572 7165

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甚麼人要到銀行會見經理?

公司董事必須會見經理. 如公司有兩個或多過兩個董事, 最少兩個董事要會見經理. 此外, 所有受權使用該銀行戶口的人士亦必須到銀行親身會見經理.

開戶須要什麼文件?

須要:

1. 身份証明, 如護照或身份証;
2. 住址証明, 如電費單或水費單;
3. 業務証明, 如名片, 以往或現有業務的單據, 廣告等;
4. 一份會計師核証公司註冊文件.

更多有關開戶文件.

你們會幫我在銀行開戶嗎?

如果要在 HSBC 銅鑼灣廣場二期開戶, 我們可以為你預約時間, 及給你開戶說明. 如果要在恒生銀行開戶, 我們可以為你預約經理到本辦公室簽署文件.

開離岸帳戶需要什麼費用嗎？

以 HSBC 為例, 開戶十日內必須存入 HKD $5,000 或 USD $1,000. 以後如果存款大過一百萬, 沒有月費. 如果三個月平均存款是五十萬到一百萬, 每月有$40月費,少過五十萬, 每月有$80月費.

我無法來香港，我亦無護照或港澳通行証等文件, 我想要的公司一定要有香港本地銀行帳號，而非離岸帳號。

要在香港銀行開戶, 公司董事或受權人必須親身到銀行辦公室, 在經理面前簽署開戶文件. 我們所有的海外客(包括中國, 美國, 南美, 泰國, 日本, 南韓, 印度等)都是親身來香港開戶的.

如果我購買一個現成的公司，是否可以解決以上的問題？

不能. 現成公司的好處只不過是程序上比較快(三個工作天,全新公司要六個工作天), 不用見証人, 及不用自己改名.

您有其他的建議幫助我解決以上的問題嗎？

最安全的做法就是親自來港. 不然可以找一個在香港可信任的人做公司的信託人. 但這人必須”信得過”, 因為他可以隨時調動公司的資金.

Requirements of setting up a representative office in China are as follow:

1. A reference letter from the bank in Hong Kong confirming that the balance in the account meets the minimum balance requirement;
2. For Hong Kong company, certification of the incorporation documents by a Chinese government recognized lawyer;
3. a lease of an office space for the representative office in the city where you want to set up the office
4. your resume.

• Shenzhen: minimum balance: HKD $100,000, process time: 1-1.5 months
• GuangZhou: minimum balance: HKD $10,000, process time: 3 months
• JiangMen: minimum balance: HKD $100,000, process time: 30-35 working days
• Beijing : minimum balance: HKD $100,000, process time: 35-40 working days

政府把二零零八年至二零零九年之商业登记费降低超过$2,000元. 新收费有效期为二零零八年四月一日至二零零九年三月三十一日, 所有公司的成立日期或周年日期是该段期间的, 新商业登记费为港币 $450.

从二零零八年四月一日起, 我们亦会跟随政府把公司成立费用在有效期内减$2,000元. 但需注意一些在二零零八年四月一日前成立的现成公司今年必须交原有费用 (即港币 $2,600), 在下年更新商业登记时才付新费用.

如果你想第一时间受惠, 请提供公司册资料给我们, 并在三月廿七日前把签署了的文件交回及付款.我们就会在三月廿八或三十一日把文件递上政府. 注意由於新收费可能带来混乱, 注册公司时间可能超过六个工作天.

我们建议在以下情况下不需等待新收费:

* 如果你要立即开业;
* 如果你有一个很好的公司名;
* 如果你想避免因新收费所带来的混乱.

更多有关2008-2009之商业登记费可在这找到: http://www.ird.gov.hk/chi/ppr/archives/08022702.htm