About
HKICS publishes practical guidance on running a Hong Kong company, and a directory of the people you can pay to do it for you.
What this site is not
HKICS is not a professional body. It does not offer membership, qualifications, examinations or a designation, and nothing here confers any status on anyone.
It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to The Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute, which was formerly known as The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries. If you are looking for that body - for membership, the CGQP, or its guidance notes - it is at hkcgi.org.hk and this site cannot help you.
How the guidance is put together
Each guide starts from the primary sources: the Companies Ordinance, the Inland Revenue Department, the Companies Registry and the other bodies that set the rules. Pages are written to answer the question a company owner actually has, in plain English, and are reviewed before they go live.
Fees, deadlines and statutory references come from a reference sheet we keep up to date, because those figures change and an out-of-date number is easy to miss. Where a figure is set annually and we cannot confirm the current one, the page says so and links to the official source instead of guessing. The calculators show the rate they use and where it comes from.
If you spot something wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
What it cannot do
This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice. It does not know your circumstances. Statutory fees and dates change, sometimes mid-year. Before you act on anything here, check it against the cited source or ask someone licensed to advise you - which is what the directory is for.
The directory
Listings are built from public registers - the Companies Registry's TCSP licensee list, the HKICPA register of practising certificates, and the Law Society's roll - and each credential shown is recorded against the register that issued it. A firm with no verifiable credential is listed without one rather than given the benefit of the doubt.
Verification means a licence number matched a public register on a stated date. It is not a recommendation, and it says nothing about whether a firm is any good.
How this is paid for
When you ask for quotes, the enquiry is offered to firms in the relevant category, and a firm pays to receive your details. Firms also pay for enhanced listings. That is the whole model, and it has two consequences worth knowing: a firm's position in the directory is not something we sell, and solicitors are listed but never charged for an introduction, because Rule 4 of the Solicitors' Practice Rules forbids sharing costs with non-solicitors.