Company Kit

• 1 signature chop
• 1 company round chop
• Company common seal
• Company statutory records
• Company share certificate book
• 10 copies of the Articles of Association (Version A)
• Gold-stamped green company kit box

The signature chop, also called the signature stamp, the finance chop or the oblong chop, is usually purple or blue and is used for signing contracts; it can be used for ordinary bank account documents (cheques, remittance slips, withdrawal slips and transfer slips), for contracts with business counterparties and for internal company documents.

The round chop, also called the amendment chop, has a double border with an inner ring, the outer ring carrying the company’s English name together with an asterisk, and is usually made as a self-inking stamp in purple or blue. Its main use is to be stamped beside an amendment once a document has been altered, and it can also serve as a finance chop, but it is best not used in the course of signing a contract.

The corporate seal, commonly called the common seal, carries the company’s name; it is often stamped on a label, which is then affixed to the document. Certain legal documents and deeds require the corporate seal to be used. Because the new Companies Ordinance of 2014 allows a Hong Kong company to choose not to have a common seal, newer companies have begun to use it less.

The Articles of Association are a green booklet setting out the internal rules for the company, its directors and its shareholders. They contain the company name; the liability of the members, that is, the form of the Hong Kong company, whether a company limited by shares or a private limited company, and the members’ rights as creditors, their liabilities and their voting rights accordingly; the share capital, which must state the total authorised share capital on registration, how the shares are divided and the nominal value of the shares, and must record the number of shares held by each shareholder; and the subscription clause, by which the subscribers sign for the number of shares taken up and declare their intention to form the company. The Articles of Association are used mainly for changes of registered capital, changes of name, changes of shareholder and a listing, and are available as a green English version and a white Chinese version.

The share certificate book is the documentary proof of a transfer or sale of the company’s shares. The statutory records record the position and particulars of the directors, company secretary and shareholders, the minutes of board meetings, the minutes of general meetings, the statutory forms and so on.

The company kit is made to order for your company, takes only 2 working days and costs $398 a set.

The Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) requires a company to keep statutory records, recording the position and particulars of its directors, company secretary and shareholders, the minutes of board meetings and general meetings, and the statutory forms. The Articles of Association, the share certificate book and the company chops must also be kept safely. The green box is where these documents and chops are held; it is usually kept by the company secretary, and it is needed whenever the company changes a shareholder, changes its name or opens an account.

For the day-to-day keeping and updating of the statutory records, see company secretary. For the incorporation of a new company, see Hong Kong company registration. For keeping accounting documents in electronic form, see paperless accounting records.