What does a designated representative for the SCR do

What Is a Designated Representative in Hong Kong

A designated representative is the natural person or body corporate a Hong Kong company must appoint to act as the point of contact for law enforcement officers inspecting or obtaining information from its Significant Controllers Register (SCR). The Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) created the role when the SCR regime took effect on 1 March 2018.

This is not an optional compliance officer. Every Hong Kong private company limited by shares must name one in its SCR, whether or not the company has identified any significant controllers.

Designated Representative SCR Hong Kong

The designated representative is the person named in the SCR whose contact details allow a law enforcement officer to locate someone authorised to produce the register or answer questions about it.

The company must record the representative's name, correspondence address, telephone number and email address in the SCR. If the representative is a body corporate, the register must also state the body's registration number and place of incorporation.

SCR Designated Representative Role

The designated representative has one statutory duty: to assist a law enforcement officer who requests it. An officer may ask to inspect the SCR, request a copy, or ask questions about the company's significant controllers.

The representative must comply without delay. Failure to assist a law enforcement officer without a reasonable excuse is an offence under the Companies Ordinance and can lead to prosecution.

Hong Kong Designated Representative Duties

The duties of the designated representative are narrow and specific.

Maintaining the SCR is the company's duty, not the representative's. The representative is not responsible for identifying significant controllers or updating the register. The representative must respond to law enforcement requests. This is the only statutory function. The representative is not obliged to answer questions from members of the public. The SCR is not open to public inspection. The representative may be a director, a company secretary, or an external corporate services provider that holds a TCSP licence.

Who Can Be Appointed as Designated Representative

The Companies Ordinance allows the designated representative to be:

• A natural person who is a director, a company secretary, or an employee of the company.
• A body corporate that is a director, a company secretary, or a service provider to the company.
• A director or company secretary who is a natural person ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, or a body corporate with a registered office or place of business in Hong Kong.
• An external TCSP-licensed corporate secretarial firm that provides SCR compliance services.

The person or body must consent to the appointment. The company must record that consent in the SCR.

Where the Designated Representative Is Recorded

The company must keep the SCR at its registered office or at another prescribed place in Hong Kong. The register must record the designated representative's details on the date the company first understands it is required to have one. If the representative changes, the company must update the register within seven days.

A law enforcement officer may request to inspect the SCR at the registered office or prescribed place during business hours. The officer does not need a court order but must produce a warrant or other lawful authority.

Practical Considerations

Companies often appoint their company secretary as the designated representative because the secretary already handles compliance with the Companies Registry and is familiar with statutory registers. A small company with a sole director who is also the company secretary may appoint that person, but the company must remember that the same person cannot be the sole director and the sole company secretary; the appointment as designated representative does not create a similar conflict.

If the company uses a corporate secretarial service, the provider will usually act as the designated representative and field any law enforcement requests directly. The company should confirm in writing that the provider accepts the role.

A company that fails to appoint a designated representative, or fails to record the representative's details in the SCR, breaches the Companies Ordinance and may be prosecuted. The maximum penalty on conviction is a fine at Level 4 and, where the offence continues, a daily fine at Level 2.