The total number of registered local companies reached 1,400,950 in 2018, up by 17,004 on 2017, the Companies Registry announced today.

The total number of local companies newly registered in the year was 151,739, among which 52,962 were incorporated online with the e-Registry or the CR eFiling mobile apps.

Since March of last year, the registry has taken up the role of a licensing authority for trust or company service providers under the Anti-Money Laundering & Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance.

A total of 6,150 licences were granted in 2018 and 323 applications were rejected or withdrawn.

Registrar of Companies Ada Chung said the new initiatives have brought Hong Kong's regulatory regime for combating money laundering and terrorist financing in line with international requirements.

She added vigorous site inspection programmes have been carried out to ensure companies and trust or company service providers are complying with statutory requirements.

In 2018, a total of 1,193 non-Hong Kong companies that have newly established a place of business in Hong Kong were registered, up 16.05% compared to the previous year.

The number of registered non-Hong Kong companies reached 11,061 by the end of the year.