- You can verify any Hong Kong company secretary in about two minutes using the Companies Registry’s public TCSP register.
- Providing company secretarial services needs a TCSP licence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615). The regime started 1 March 2018.
- Operating without one carries a fine of HK$100,000 and imprisonment for 6 months on conviction.
- CPA practices and law firms are exempt. If your provider is one, absence from the register is expected, not a red flag.
- Licences are normally valid for 3 years, so a provider licensed when you signed may not be now.
- Where to look: the Companies Registry's Register of Trust or Company Service Provider Licensees.
- What you need: your provider's legal entity name as it appears on their invoice, or their licence number.
- What the law requires: a TCSP licence under Cap. 615 for anyone providing company secretarial services as a business.
- The exception that matters: accounting professionals and legal professionals are exempt.
If you’re checking whether your company secretary has a TCSP licence in Hong Kong, something probably prompted it. A slow reply, a missed filing, or a question your provider dodged. Whatever it was, this is one of the few facts about a provider you can verify yourself, in about two minutes.
The Companies Registry publishes a searchable register of every licensed trust or company service provider. You either find your provider or you don’t. What matters is reading the result correctly, because a missing entry doesn’t always mean something is wrong.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- How to search the TCSP register and read the result
- What a TCSP licence covers, and how long it lasts
- What to do if your provider isn’t listed
- What the penalty is for operating without a licence
- When a licence check should actually make you switch
How to check your company secretary’s TCSP licence in two minutes
Search the Companies Registry’s public register, then match the result against your provider’s legal name.
Step 1: Open the public register
Go to the Register of Trust or Company Service Provider Licensees, maintained by the Registry for Trust and Company Service Providers. You don’t need an account or a relationship with the provider to search it.
Step 2: Search by name or licence number
The register gives you three fields: “Name of TCSP Licensee in English”, “Name of TCSP Licensee in Chinese”, and “Licence No.” If your provider has given you a licence number, search that first. It’s an exact match and removes all ambiguity.
Step 3: Read the result
A match returns the licence number, the name in English and Chinese, the business address, and a remarks field. Check the name matches the entity that invoices you and the number matches any your provider quoted. If both line up, they’re licensed and permitted to act.
Search the legal entity name on your invoice, not the brand you deal with day to day. The two often differ, and a trading name returning no results is the most common reason people wrongly conclude their provider is unlicensed. If the invoice says "ABC Corporate Services Limited" and the website says "ABC", search the former.
What is a TCSP licence, and why does your company secretary need one?
A TCSP licence is permission from the Companies Registry to run a trust or company service business in Hong Kong. It sits in Part 5A of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), and the regime commenced on 1 March 2018.
Your company secretary needs one because of how the law defines a trust or company service. It covers:
- Forming companies
- Acting as a director, company secretary or partner
- Providing a registered office or business address
- Acting as a trustee or nominee shareholder
Outsourced company secretarial work sits inside that list. That’s why a genuine provider holds a licence and can give you the number on request.
Getting one isn’t a formality. Applicants, plus their ultimate owners, partners and directors, must pass a fit-and-proper test covering criminal history, bankruptcies and AMLO compliance.
Licences expire. The Companies Registry states that "normally, the validity period of a licence granted will be 3 years", so a provider properly licensed when you signed may not be licensed today. If you've used the same company secretary for several years and never re-checked, run it now rather than at your next renewal.
What if your provider isn’t on the register?
Don’t assume the worst. Several reasons explain a missing entry, and only one is a problem. Find your row below.
| What you found | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Listed, licence number matches | Licensed and permitted to act | Note it and re-check at renewal, since validity is normally 3 years |
| Not listed, but they’re a CPA practice | Accounting professionals are exempt | No action, the exemption is legitimate |
| Not listed, but they’re a law firm | Legal professionals are exempt | No action, the exemption is legitimate |
| Not listed under the name you searched | The licensed entity may be named differently within a group | Ask for the licence number and search on that |
| Not listed, no exemption applies, no licence number offered | The provider may be operating unlicensed | Ask directly, and if it isn’t resolved, plan to move |
Two exemptions matter in practice. An accounting professional means a certified public accountant, a corporate practice or a CPA firm. A legal professional means a solicitor or a foreign lawyer.
What happens to a provider operating without a licence?
Carrying on a trust or company service business without a licence is an offence. Under Cap. 615, a person who does so is liable on conviction to a fine of HK$100,000 and imprisonment for 6 months.
That offence sits with the provider, not with you. Your exposure is practical rather than criminal: filings handled by someone outside the regime, a provider who may be shut down at short notice, and an unplanned migration. If filings slip in the process, the penalties for missed filings land on your company.
Does a TCSP licence mean they’re any good?
No. A licence is a floor, not a quality mark. It confirms two things: the provider is legally permitted to act, and the people behind it passed a fit-and-proper test. It says nothing about whether they answer your emails, meet deadlines, or charge fairly.
Treat the register as a disqualifier, not a recommendation. A provider who fails is off your list. One who passes has cleared the minimum bar. Everything that affects your working life still needs checking.
Comparing company secretary providers covers the criteria that separate them, and what a company secretary actually does sets out the work you’re buying.
What does a TCSP licence cost, and who pays it?
Your provider pays, not you. Per the Companies Registry’s guideline on licensing trust or company service providers, the licensing fees are HK$3,440 for a grant application plus HK$975 per person subject to the fit-and-proper test, and HK$2,910 for a renewal plus the same HK$975 per person.
No one should be listing a TCSP licence fee on your invoice. If you see one, ask what it’s for. A company secretary charges for the work: filings, registers, meetings and the registered address. What a company secretary costs breaks down what’s normal.
When switching providers isn’t worth it
A licence check can create an urge to act the facts don’t support. Stay put if:
- Your provider is listed, and the licence number and entity name both match
- They’re a CPA practice or law firm, and the exemption explains their absence
- They gave you a licence number without hesitation when you asked
- Your filings are on time and you can name the person handling your account
When it’s time to move on
Some findings do justify starting a conversation with another provider. Plan to switch if:
- They’re not listed, no exemption applies, and no licence number is forthcoming
- They deflect or delay when you ask a direct question about licensing
- Their licence has lapsed and they haven’t mentioned it
- You’ve had late filings with the Companies Registry alongside a failed or unclear check
If that’s where you’ve landed, how switching actually works covers the handover and what happens to your filing history.
How Sleek helps you verify and switch
If your provider didn’t survive the check, the practical question is what moving involves.
With Sleek, you can:
- Verify us the same way: Sleek’s TCSP licence is TC006483, and you can search that number in the register before speaking to anyone.
- Get a licensed company secretary: Sleek’s company secretary service covers statutory filings, registers and the registered office under one licensed provider.
- Move without a gap: records and filing history transfer across, so nothing lapses mid-year during the handover.
- Set up from overseas: incorporating from overseas works without a Hong Kong visit, which matters when you can’t walk into an office to vet anyone.
Run the check on us first. That’s the point of the register.
450,000
businesses worldwide.
from 4,100+ reviews.
satisfaction rate from
16,000 surveyed clients.
FAQs about TCSP licences and company secretaries in Hong Kong
Yes. The licence applies to carrying on a business of providing these services to other people. A director or employee acting as company secretary for their own company isn’t serving others, so no licence is needed. They must still be ordinarily resident in Hong Kong.
Often no, but partnerships are the catch. The exemption covers accounting professionals (CPAs, corporate practices, CPA firms). If not every partner is an accounting professional, the firm may not sit fully inside that exemption. Ask which basis they operate on, then decide whether a register search still applies.
The licence attaches to the licensed entity (or sole proprietor) named on the register, not to every employee who touches your file. Confirm the legal entity on your invoice matches the register entry. Staff turnover does not void the licence, but a group trading name that isn’t the licensee still will.
Yes. Sleek’s TCSP licence number is TC006483. Enter it in the Licence No. field of the register and confirm it yourself rather than taking our word for it. The result should return our registered entity name and business address. The cover recurring obligations.
