According to Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, each limited company should have a company secretary.
Who should be :
- A Hong Kong resident, or
- A Hong Kong registered limited company.
The duty of company secretary is to maintain proper company record as required and stated in Companies Ordinance (not accounting records).
These include :
- Submit annual return to Company Registry;
- Maintain shareholders and directors record;
- File proper return to Company Registry as and when certain transaction happens, such as allotment of shares, legal charge of asset etc.
As a limited company is granted the "privilege" of limited liability, it needs to comply with some administrative requirement to enable information disclosure to public is maintained.
This protects
- The public, including bankers, business partners, employees etc, who need to assess the credibility and capability of the company;
- The management of the company because compliance of disclosure requirement shows that they are acting in good faith.