CentreO Blog

Before submitting your applications, there are several requirements an aspiring notary must complete.

The Legal Requirement

To most small businessmen and women tempted by eye-watering fees, this requirement is the most exclusionary. In order to even be eligible to submit an application, you must fulfill two requirements. First, you must have an aggregate total of seven years of experience working as a solicitor in Hong Kong, confirmed by the Roll of Solicitors and the Registrar of the High Court. Second, you must have been continuously listed on the Roll of Solicitors for the seven years leading up to the date of application. If you were ever suspended from working as a solicitor, here or abroad, you’re ineligible, as well.

The Exam

Before being able to even take the exam, you first have to apply to take it. Anyone can apply, the only requirement is that you know that just passing the exam isn’t enough. This is good, especially since just the application fee is HK$2000. Nonrefundable, and it must be in the exact format “approved by the Council of the Society of Notaries.” The required form can be found on the exam guidelines from their website on page 8.

The exam itself isn’t easy either. The syllabus states the subjects are the Bills of Exchange and Notarial Practices. It is available online (page 9 of the exam guidelines), but can be requested free of charge. (They do offer a class. It is HK$21,000, and the date for the next one is “October to March.”) You can also request past examination question papers from The Scriveners Company, after “payment of their fee.”

If the difficulty wasn’t enough, they only come every few years, and the Society of Notaries have no mandate to schedule exams. May 2015 was the most recent examination, the next is in 2019.

The fee to take the exam is HK$10,000, paid in the format found on page 10. Nonrefundable, of course. But, if you fail, you’re free to take it (and pay their fee) again.

The Letter of Support

I hope you’re well connected. The next requirement is obtaining signatures from 30 professionals working in Hong Kong, certifying that you’re worthy of becoming a notary. 15 of the signatures must be from “persons of good standing,” anyone who has known you a long time (it asks the number of years) and is doing a job that looks good enough to the Society of Notaries. The next 10 must be either active solicitors, barristers, or notaries public. The final 5 must be Judicial Officers, or holders of a list of judicial offices found at the bottom of “Cap 92 – Judicial Officers” in [Schedule 1]. If you know 5 coroners, though, you’re all set.
Once you’ve completed all these requirements, you’re finally ready to apply. Don’t relax though, it’s an arduous process in itself. Our next blog will cover it in detail, stay tuned to our blog.

If you own a small business, you might occasionally need documents notarized. After seeing the price tag on their services, though, it might be tempting to change industries. Their fees often can get up to the HK$1000s for as little work as a single signature. The process of becoming a notary public, and joining their society, reveals why: it is long, difficult, expensive, and often seemingly intentionally confusing.

The most restrictive requirement is the prerequisite: being a long practicing, active solicitor. You also have to be well connected enough to find signatories for a “Letter of Support”, including other lawyers and judges.

Both requirements are difficult but doable, yet as of 2017 June, there are a total of only 379 notaries public, while there are almost 10,000 lawyers. Why? The exam is a huge challenge, even for some of the most highly educated people in Hong Kong. At the last exam, in 2015, 241 highly experienced lawyers took it. 22 passed.  

If you pass the literal and figurative tests demanded by the Society of Notaries, you still must apply, which is a challenge in itself. There are two separate applications for your license, a required application to the Society of Notaries, and an application to be allowed to practice, each with paperwork and, of course, fees. The total monetary cost: greater than HK$80000.

If you manage to complete the marathon application, though, you’re inducted into a highly prestigious, lucrative, and powerful society. Our later blogs will outline the process of becoming licensed, so check our blog for more information.

After identifying the significant controllers in your company, you should enter the content into a Significant Controllers Register, keep it up-to-date, and make it available for inspection. It is important to note that certain details must be included in SCR:

• The ‘required particulars’ of every significant controller of the company.
The ‘required particulars’ include name, nature of control over the company, and the date of their becoming a significant controller.

• The particulars of any registrable change with respect to each of its significant controllers.
A registrable change includes a significant controller’s cessation as a significant controller, and changes rendering the particulars already entered incorrect or incomplete.

• The name and contact details of your designated representative.
The company must designate a representative to serve as the contact for providing information on the SCR and related assistance to law enforcement officers.

The required particulars of a registrable person or registrable legal entity must be entered in the SCR in a timely manner, within 7 days after all the particulars have been provided or confirmed.

Centre O can help you to maintain the Significant Controllers Register as part of the Company Secretarial service. Check out further details on the following link: http://centreo.hk/company-secretarial/.

If you would like to know more about the SCR compliance, or if you have other business related questions, please contact us at sales@centreo.hk. We are always here to serve and help your company to maintain HK requirements and compliance.