The Companies Registry administers and enforces the major part of the CO. The registry incorporates local companies, registers overseas companies, deregisters defunct solvent private companies, registers documents required to be submitted by registered companies and provides the public with services and facilities to inspect and obtain company information kept by the registry. It also administers and enforces several other ordinances including the Trustee Ordinance (insofar as it relates to trust companies), the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance and the Limited Partnerships Ordinance. The registry is also responsible for a wide range of legal, policy and regulatory matters related to the ordinances and corporate governance.

The Companies Registry has operated as a trading fund department since 1993. Consequently, it can keep part of its income and deploy it more flexibly to meet its own needs, business turnover and customers' demands and expectations. The department achieved a surplus of $114.1 million in the 2005-06 financial year. The surplus generated over the past years has enabled the registry to build up a healthy reserve to finance the department's development projects and negated the need to raise fees since December 1997.

The registry has continued to implement the Strategic Change Plan to fully computerise the department's operations and enable electronic delivery of services in filing, processing, storing and obtaining documents or information. Implementation of the plan will lead to a significant reduction in the time taken to process documents, more timely updating and disclosure of company information, enhanced data security and integrity and higher productivity. The two-phase development of an Integrated Companies Registry Information System is an integral part of the plan. Phase I involving the provision of electronic search services was launched on February 28, 2005. The new services are well received by customers and over 97 per cent of company searches are now conducted online. Phase II, which includes the provision of electronic filing services for incorporation and document registration, is expected to be implemented in 2009-10.

In 2006, 81 974 new companies were incorporated. At year-end, 591 944 local companies were on the register, compared with 549 232 in 2005.

Companies incorporated overseas must register certain documents with the registry within one month of establishing a place of business in Hong Kong. During 2006, 608 overseas companies were registered and, by year-end, there were a total of 7 709 registered companies from 82 countries.