Hong Kong Ordinances

COMPANIES ORDINANCE - SECT 345

Prohibition of partnerships with more than 20 members

Caution: This is a past version. See the current version here.

PART XIII

MISCELLANEOUS

Prohibition of Partnerships with more than Twenty Members

(1) No company, association, or partnership consisting of more than 20 persons
shall be formed for the purpose of carrying on any business that has for its
object the acquisition of gain by the company, association or partnership, or
by the individual members thereof, unless it is registered as a company under
this Ordinance, or is formed in pursuance of some other Ordinance. (Amended 6
of 1984 s. 239; 25 of 1998 s. 2)

(2) This section shall not apply to a partnership formed-

   (a)  for the purpose of carrying on practice as solicitors and consisting
        of persons each of whom is a solicitor qualified to act as such under
        the Legal Practitioners Ordinance ( Cap 159);

   (b)  for the purpose of carrying on practice as a firm of certified public
        accountants or public accountants and such firm is registered under
        the Professional Accountants Ordinance ( Cap 50); (Replaced 46 of 2000
        s. 38)

   (c)  for the purpose of carrying on business as a member of the Unified
        Exchange and consisting of persons each of whom is a member of that
        exchange; (Amended 10 of 1987 s. 11)

   (d)  for the purpose of carrying on a profession, vocation or business
        specified in regulations made by the Chief Executive in Council and
        consisting of persons who satisfy any conditions imposed by those
        regulations. (Added 51 of 1978 s. 8. Amended 23 of 1999 s. 3)

(3) For the purposes of this section, a body corporate shall be treated as a
single person and any body unincorporate shall be treated as being the same
number of persons as those who comprise it. (Added 51 of 1978 s. 8) [cf. 1929
c. 23 s. 357 U.K.]