Hong Kong Offshore Company

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A Hong Kong offshore company is becoming an increasingly popular option amongst international entrepreneurs in order to conduct tax efficient global trade. This option has many advantages, including excellent access to China, one of the world's most rapidly expanding economies. Other aspects of a Hong Kong offshore company include:

An offshore company is an excellent corporate vehicle through which to house global corporate profits, legally minimising international taxation. For example, profits sourced outside Hong Kong are legitimately tax-exempt. For further information see the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department website.

A Hong Kong offshore company is usually incorporated by foreign investors as a limited liability company (LLC). Other corporate entities available in Hong Kong include the Hong Kong Branch Company, the limited liability partnership, sole partnership and representative office. To highlight the popularity of the LLC, government statistics confirmed in 2010 that there were 46% more corporate regional headquarters in the city than in 1999.

Multinational companies choose a Hong Kong offshore company because of the city's reputation as an international financial centre with a robust, viable trading economy. This is in stark contrast to other 'offshore' jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Bahamas. Furthermore, Hong Kong is positively ranked as the world's freest economy in the Heritage Organisation's 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, a measure of freedom enjoyed in business, trade, monetary, financial, investment and labour markets.

Hong Kong's financial institutions uphold the highest standards of customer confidentiality, which have been incorporated with the standards set by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Hong Kong is a secure long-term jurisdiction for international entrepreneurs.

In addition, the World Bank ranks Hong Kong as the 2nd easiest place to do business. The World Bank takes into account factors such as the number of procedures required to form a Hong Kong offshore company, the time taken, the cost and minimum capital required. That said, entrepreneurs should budget for incorporation to take up to two weeks to complete.

A Hong Kong offshore company is appealing to foreign investors as it can be a gateway to China. The Hong Kong Government has come up with initiatives that encourage closer economic ties with China. For example the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle framework is designed to encourage overseas enterprises to conduct scientific research in Hong Kong. Another project is the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail link, which will provide for greater opportunities to connect Hong Kong to the mainland.

In order to support this venture, most entrepreneurs open a corporate bank account with a leading international retail bank (for example, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citibank). Because 70 of the world's top 100 banks have operations in Hong Kong, investors choose from a wide array of professional banking services. For more information, see the Hong Kong offshore banking page.

When opening a corporate bank account in Hong Kong, banks require due diligence including:

i) a detailed business plan outlining the company's products and services, a market analysis and information about the bank signatories;

ii) examples of contracts and invoices in the name of the company; and

iii) recent proof of address of the bank signatories (in English).

Contact Us

For more information on Hong Kong business formation, email email@healyconsultants.com or call us in Hong Kong at (+852) 8331 1911.

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