Corporate Name of a Registered Non-Hong Kong Company

Pursuant to section 774(1) of the Companies Ordinance, a "domestic name", in relation to a non-Hong Kong company, means the name or names by which the company is registered in its place of incorporation.

Pursuant to section 774(1) of the Companies Ordinance, a "corporate name", in relation to a registered non-Hong Kong company, means a domestic name, or a translation of a domestic name, by which the company is registered in the Companies Register of Hong Kong.

If your company intends to register a Chinese corporate name in addition to the English domestic name, it has to deliver to the Registrar of Companies, apart from the required application documents and fees, a certified translation in Chinese of the relevant part of the company's certificate of incorporation (or its equivalent) that states the domestic name of the company, the nature of the certificate (or its equivalent) and the date of issue of the certificate (or its equivalent). The translation should be certified pursuant to section 4 of the Companies Ordinance.

The above arrangement also applies to a non-Hong Kong company which has only registered a Chinese domestic name and it intends to register an English corporate name in Hong Kong upon registration.

For details, please refer to the Guideline on Registration of Corporate Names for Registered Non-Hong Kong Companies.

If your company adopts a Chinese name in addition to the English name after registration, it has to deliver to the Registrar of Companies, a Form NN10 together with the following documents and required fee within 1 month after the adoption:

1. a certified translation in Chinese of the relevant part of the certificate of incorporation, or certificate of change of name, (or its equivalent) which states the domestic name of the company, the nature of the certificate (or its equivalent) and the date of issue of the certificate. The translation should be certified pursuant to section 4 of the Companies Ordinance; and
2. a special resolution authorising the adoption of the Chinese name by your company.

A Certificate of Registration of Alteration of Name of Registered Non-Hong Kong Company will be issued after the documents have been registered.

The above arrangement also applies to a registered non-Hong Kong company which intends to add an English name after registration.

For details, please refer to the Guideline on Registration of Corporate Names for Registered Non-Hong Kong Companies.

If your company changes the translation of the name, it has to deliver to the Registrar of Companies, a Form NN10 together with the following documents and fee within 1 month after the change:

1. a certified translation (in the same language as the translation of the name) of the relevant part of the certificate of incorporation, or certificate of change of name, (or its equivalent) which states the domestic name of the company, the nature of the certificate (or its equivalent) and the date of issue of the certificate. The translation should be certified pursuant to section 4 of the Companies Ordinance; and
2. a special resolution authorising the change of translation of the name by your company.

Unless the English or Chinese names are the domestic names registered in the company's place of incorporation, a registered non-Hong Kong company cannot register more than one English name or more than one Chinese name as its corporate names in Hong Kong. Please also note that if any one of the domestic names of the company is in characters of the Latin alphabet, it cannot register an English name as its corporate name.

For details, please refer to the Guideline on Registration of Corporate Names for Registered Non-Hong Kong Companies.

Division 4 of Part 16 of the Companies Ordinance contains regulation of names used by registered non-Hong Kong companies to carry on business in Hong Kong. If the Registrar of Companies ("the Registrar") is satisfied that a corporate name is "the same as" or is "too like" a name that appears, or should have appeared, in the Registrar's index of company names, or gives so misleading an indication of the nature of its activities in Hong Kong as to be likely to cause harm to the public, the Registrar may, within 6 months of the date on which the corporate name is registered, serve a notice to that effect on the company.

If a registered non-Hong Kong company is served with such a notice, it must not, after the end of 2 months after the date of service, carry on business in Hong Kong under that corporate name. The company may either cause the name for which the notice is served to be changed in the place of its incorporation or apply, in writing, to the Registrar for approval of another name in substitution of that name under which it is to carry on business in Hong Kong.

For details, please refer to the Guideline on Registration of Corporate Names for Registered Non-Hong Kong Companies.