Navigating Change: Essential Transition in Hong Kong Business Register Number Mapping
Posted 17.01.2024We would like to notify you that with February 28th we will do changes referring to the registration numbers of companies registered within the Hong Kong registry.
What is changing?
The mapping of Hong Kong business register numbers is undergoing a shift from Company Registration Number (CRN) to Business Registration Number (BRN). This transition not only aligns with standardization efforts, but also marks a significant advancement in fostering seamless communication between businesses and authorities. At the core of this transformation is the BRN, issued by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and allocated to every active company in Hong Kong.
Why has it changed?
The BRN serves as a unique identifier for legal entities, facilitating effective communication and data exchange among government departments and businesses. This number also empowers companies to substantiate their identity to business partners more efficiently. With the launch of the enhanced Integrated Companies Registry Information System (ICRIS) on December 27, 2023, the BRN takes center stage as the primary identifier utilized by the Registry’s Electronic Search Services for searching and pinpointing a company or entity.
How will our API be affected?
The deep and index search by number will be enhanced to enable searches using both BRN and CRN. In the search results and datasets, BRN will be presented under registrationNumber, and the CRN will be displayed as otherNumber.
Please see below an example for the refresh dataset for KYC API v1:
{
"id": "E620A7C3CE3A7ECE6C0D1BFE751D53EE",
"country": "HK",
"registrationNumber": "18537780",
"name": "SIEMENS COMPONENTS LIMITED",
"status": "LIVE",
"address": [],
"formattedAddress": null,
"managingDirectors": [],
"secretaries": [],
"dateOfIncorporation": "1994-05-19",
"legalForm": "Private company limited by shares",
"sicNaceCodes": [],
"extraData": {
"providedStatus": "Live",
"otherName": "英飛凌科技香港有限公司",
"oldName": "CERRUTI LIMITED,INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES HONG KONG LIMITED億恆科技香港有限公司,SIEMENS COMPONENTS LIMITED,SIEMENS COMPONENTS LIMITED西門子電子零件有限公司",
"otherNumber": "0478966"
},
"requestTime": 1705482041,
"lastUpdate": 1701813196,
"typeOfOwnership": [],
"officialNumber": [
"18537780"
],
"people": null
}Useful links