Government welcomes passage of Companies (Amendment) Bill 2022

The Hong Kong government has published a press statement to announce and welcome the passage of the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2022 by the Legislative Council. The Bill will be officially gazetted on January 27, 2023 and come into force three months after that date.
The Amendment Bill modifies the Companies Ordinance to facilitate the holding of virtual or hybrid shareholder meetings. Hybrid meetings thereby include virtual and local, physical attendance of shareholders whichever is preferred. The Bill thereby makes corresponding amendments to the Ordinance to adopt necessary changes with respect to the following issues:
– the notification of an upcoming meeting (place, date, time, website, etc.);
– the permission to hold virtual meetings unless provided otherwise in the company’s articles;
– the obligations of companies to allow listening, speaking, or voting at meetings that take place at two or more physical locations at the same time; and
– the consideration of being present when a shareholder attends a virtual meeting.
The government also informs that the Companies Registry will soon issue corresponding guidelines to help firms adopt to the new general meeting standards.