A foreign company may be registered in Hong Kong as a branch. If a foreign company establishes a place of business in Hong Kong, the Companies Ordinance provides that the company must register with the Companies Registry as a foreign company within 1 month of it establishing that place of business.

In our Hong Kong company registration service, we can advise on whether a foreign company has a place of business in Hong Kong, handle the foreign company registration procedures under the Companies Ordinance and advise on the appointment of an "authorized representative" to receive service of process. Once a foreign company has been registered, we can advise on formalities that come with foreign company registration in Hong Kong including annual and ad hoc filing requirements.

An overseas company may carry on business through a representative office. In this case, the overseas company has no place of business in Hong Kong, in the sense that it has an office in Hong Kong that does not have any authority to enter into contracts. In our Hong Kong company registration service, we can handle business registration formalities and advise upon the limitations of a representative office.