Demystifying the Duty of a Company Secretary in Hong Kong

17 June 2020

The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, Chapter 622, makes it mandatory for every company to be registered in Hong Kong to have a company secretary. So important is the company secretary that indeed, your company will not be registered without one. In this post, we will look at the duties of a company secretary in a Hong Kong company.

What is a Company Secretary?

First, it is important to appreciate that a company secretary is completely different from common clerks who do clerical work. According to the Companies Ordinance, a company secretary is a senior officer in a company who is responsible for efficient administration, especially with respect to ensuring compliance with statutory requirements. So, you need to ensure that only the most qualified and committed person gets the job.

The Main Duties of Company Secretary

From the definition of a company secretary, there is no doubt that the roles he does and how he does them will greatly impact the company’s success. So, let us start by understanding the duties of a company secretary.

Fulfilling the Company’s Tax Obligation

When opening a company in Hong Kong, it is important to understand that the administration runs a business economy because the registered enterprises serve as the primary source of revenue. Therefore, the administration takes tax matters very seriously. Your company secretary is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the company meets all its tax obligations. Some of these obligations include:

Overseeing the filing of the tax returns correctly and on time.
Seeking additional approval or clarifications on tax-related matters.
Registering the company with IRD (Inland Revenue Department).

Keeping Statutory Books

The Hong Kong Companies Ordinance also designates the company secretary as the custodian of the statutory books. This implies that the secretary should have every document that the government might need to inspect. In addition to keeping these books of account, the company secretary is also responsible for:

Updating the details on statutory books.
Producing and distributing company accounts and reports.

Planning and Attending Company Meetings

As we indicated earlier, the company secretary is involved with top-level management, and one of that roles is planning the company’s meetings. This is considered an important role because it is in these meetings that actions to be taken on different areas, such as books of accounts and employment, are made. Here is a breakdown of these duties:

Organize board meetings.
Participate in board meetings.
Prepare the agenda of the company meetings.
Implement the decisions made during meetings in compliance with laws.
Advise the company on compliance with the law.

Other Duties of a Company Secretary

While the roles we have outlined above are considered the core for a company secretary, they are not the only ones. Other administrative duties include:

Communicating with shareholders, the Stock Exchange, and regulatory bodies on behalf of the company.
Observing the company developments and giving advice to the board of directors.
Guiding the company through the process of liquidation.

If you are planning to incorporate a company in Hong Kong, the position of a company secretary is very important and should only be entrusted to a qualified and experienced person. With the best company secretary, you can rest assured that the business will make the best decisions and grow into the multinational of your dreams.

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Mashum Mollah

Mashum Mollah is the feature writer of Search Engine Magazine and an SEO Analyst at Real Wealth Business. Over the last 3 years, He has successfully developed and implemented online marketing, SEO, and conversion campaigns for 50+ businesses of all sizes. He is the co-founder of Social Media Magazine.

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The girl loves to try new beauty products. However, women cannot buy all the latest products in their standard size. With the delivery service of monthly beauty boxes, you can meet this wide demand. The concept is to collect samples from beauty brands that have just been released to make them discover your subscribers. Everyone wins: brands make their products known, women who discover new products, and you who sell the subscriptions to these boxes monthly. Read Also: 8 Key SEO Strategies For E-Commerce Websites How To Choose The Best Affiliate Programs To Promote On Your WordPress Blog

10 Waste Management Tips For Every Business

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When you are running a business, your employees become your assets. If your employees grow, so does your organization. Hence, it becomes very important that you take care of your employees. Custom employee recognition can be one of the best ways to make your employees feel comfortable and encouraged working in your organization. Showing your employees that they are being valued for their hard work and reward them accordingly will help your business in the long run. The key to achieving this goal is understanding Employee award wording ideas. If you can develop the best and innovative ideas, you can boost your employee's morale and motivation. Why are Employee Recognition Awards Important? It has been seen that the employees who have been appreciated by their organization are more likely to feel satisfied with their work. Once you start encouraging employees for their good work, you will see a boost in productivity. As we have started cruising through 2021, we hope that this is the best time to understand employee recognition's importance to boost your business productivity this year. Fulfilling Careers Workplace loyalty is not derived from the job. The workplace environment and fulfilling careers nurture it. According to a report, it has been seen that 78% of the employees agree with the fact that they will stay with the currency employers if they know they have a career in this organization. With employee recognition, you can motivate your employees and ensure that they see your organization as the best career opportunity rather than a job. Respect Knowledge Everyone works hard to build their skills set and expects others to respect that. According to a report, almost 53% of the employees believe that if their knowledge and skills are being respected, they will spend more time with the respective organizations. Understanding Progress Yes, goals are important. But that can only be achieved by understanding the working process. Employee recognition is not limited to big win; it can also support and nurture the next generation of employees in your organizations. Best Employee Recognition Awards Ideas There are multiple ideas that you can adopt to recognize your employees. We have prepared a handful of them. Let's explore. 1. Formulate A Proper Plan To Recognize Your Employees Before you can prepare yourself to recognize your employees, you need to formulate a proper plan to track their achievements. Remember that these awards programs and recognition events are not just for show. They are meant to boost your employee's morale and the organization's productivity. Hence, it becomes very important that you figure out an appropriate strategy. Do not forget about your work culture. Employees' recognition ideas should be relevant to your work culture. 2. Celebrate Employees Birthdays Birthdays are the best event to make your employees feel special. You can start targeting your employees' birthdays. This will make them feel special and a part of the organization. When you celebrate your employees' birthdays, they will feel connected to the organization on a deeper level. This practice can make them feel an inseparable part of the organization. This will act as a driving force and help them to boost their productivity. Even a small event like celebrating employee's birthdays can motivate them to give their best performance to the organization. 3. Cheers From Peers Creating the best working environment is the role of the pers. The working environment should be like this where the co-workers can celebrate the achievement of the other co-workers. And when the time calls for it, they stand alongside the organization's bad times. This will ensure that the whole organization can perform as a team and bring positive results day in and day out. 4. Reward Them With Trophies Every sport has trophies. These trophies change hands every year depending on the champions. You can use the same concept in your organization. This practice will motivate your employees to be the best in the organization. Once they know what they can achieve by working hard, they will try their best to achieve that goal. 5. Collect Employees Feedback We have hardly seen any organization taking feedback from the employees. Feedback is a necessary part if you want to improve your organization as a whole. Taking feedback from the employees will give them an idea that their views matter in the organization. You can take feedback on the followings: What do they feel about the organization? What do they think needs to be improved? What drives them to work for you? What will drive them further? Ask your employees these questions, and take their answers as suggestions. This practice will kill two birds with one arrow. Not only are you getting valuable feedback, but you are also getting to know what your employees think about you and your organization. 6. Public Your Appreciation Recognizing your employees is a good thing but recognizing them in public is even better. You must devise a perfect appreciation program where you or the employee can recognize the best performer among the employees. By appreciating the best employee in public, you are not only boosting the morale of the employers, but you are also giving them a goal to achieve. The public execution of the appreciation shows that you are confident in your employees and want others to step up their game and reach this podium. 7. Track Team Wins Every organization has several teams, and every team competes among themselves subconsciously. You must track your team every year and award the winning team. This will not only help you understand how other teams are performing, but you will have an idea of how the organization can improve. Working with the team will help you understand the working of your organization, and you will know what you need to expect from them. This is a perfect device to find out non-performing teams and motivate them to work better. Conclusion From the points mentioned above, you now know how employee recognition can help you develop a perfect plan for your employees' recognition. If you want to cope with the market and stand back on the feet again, employee recognition might play an important role. Read Also: Why In-Company Training Results in Better Employees 3 Steps to Hire the Perfect Employee What Are the Ways to Prepare a New Employee? Possible Reasons Why Your Employees Aren’t Too Productive and What to Do About It How to Increase the Safety of Your Employees

Demystifying the Duty of a Company Secretary in Hong Kong

What is a Company Secretary?