TCSP licence search: how to check a Hong Kong firm

To check a TCSP licence, search the Companies Registry’sRegister of Trust or Company Service Provider Licensees. It is free. You can search by the licensee’s name in English or Chinese, or by licence number, and licence numbers begin with “TC”. Anyone who carries on a trust or company service business in Hong Kong needs a licence from the Registrar of Companies, unless section 53B of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) exempts them. Running that business without one is a criminal offence.

What counts as a trust or company service

The Registry’sGuideline on Licensing of Trust or Company Service Providersdefines a trust or company service business as providing, in Hong Kong and to other people, one or more of these services:

• forming corporations or other legal persons;
• acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a director or a secretary of a corporation;
• providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address for a corporation, a partnership or any other legal person or legal arrangement;
• acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a trustee of an express trust, or as a nominee shareholder for anyone other than a corporation listed on a recognised stock market.

So a firm that sells company formation,company secretarywork or aregistered addressis inside the regime. The Companies Registry has run the licensing system since 1 March 2018.

Who needs a licence, and who is exempt

Unless section 53B exempts it, a person who carries on a trust or company service business in Hong Kong must hold a licence and pass the Registrar’s “fit and proper” test. The Registry’slicensing FAQlists four exempt groups: authorized institutions, licensed corporations whose trust or company service work is ancillary to their principal business, accounting professionals and legal professionals.

The accounting categories come from the Professional Accountants Ordinance (Cap. 50) and the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Cap. 588). The Registry’saccounting professional FAQsets them out. An exempt firm will not appear on the TCSP register, so ask which category it relies on. For a solicitor, usehow to check the Law List.

How to run the search

1. Get the firm’s full legal name and the licence number it quotes, from the engagement letter, the invoice or the website. A trading brand can differ from the licensee’s legal name.
2. Open thepublic searchand search by licence number first.
3. Search again by name, in English or Chinese, to confirm the number belongs to the same entity.
4. Compare the business address on the register with the address the firm gives you.
5. Read the Remarks column for that entry.
6. Save a dated screenshot or PDF of the result with your company records.

How to read the result

Each entry shows the licence number, the licensee’s English and Chinese names, its business address and a Remarks column. You are looking for a match on both the number and the legal name. If the number you were given belongs to a different name, ask the firm to explain before you sign anything.

No result does not prove a firm is unlicensed. It may be exempt, or trading under a name you did not search. It does mean you should ask. A licence can also stop. The Registrar may revoke or suspend one by written notice if it is no longer satisfied that the licensee, or its ultimate owner, partner or director, is fit and proper. Search again before you renew a yearly service.

Licence validity and renewal

A TCSP licence is generally valid for three years. The licence states its period and the licensee’s name and business address. The Registry’srenewal pamphletsays to apply at least 60 days before expiry, and advises starting three to four months ahead. There is no grace period: a licensee that misses the renewal deadline has to apply for a new licence. While a renewal is being decided, the current licence stays in force until it is renewed or a decision not to renew takes effect, unless it is withdrawn, revoked or suspended first.

Licensees must report changes within one month on Form TCSP6. They need the Registrar’s prior approval before adding an ultimate owner, partner or director who is subject to the fit-and-proper test. A licensee that fails to report a change without reasonable excuse is liable on conviction to a fine of HK$50,000.

The offence of operating without a licence

Section 53F(1) of Cap. 615 makes it an offence to carry on a trust or company service business in Hong Kong without a licence. Under section 53F(2), a person convicted is liable to a fine of HK$100,000 and six months’ imprisonment. The Registry repeats the warning in apamphlet on unlicensed business.

Licensed firms face a separate disciplinary regime. Under the Registry’specuniary penalty guideline, the Registrar may order a licensee to pay up to HK$500,000 for breaches such as customer due diligence failures, and up to HK$10,000 a day if it does not comply with an order to put things right.

The register is large. The Registrycounted 7,412 licensees at the end of June 2026, after granting 333 new licences in the first half of the year.

What ranked.hk shows

ranked.hk is not the official register, and we do not license anyone. We only print a TCSP number on a listing when the firm published it on its own website. A listing with no number is not a finding that the firm is unlicensed. It means we have not seen one to copy. The numbers we have copied sit on thecomparison table, and you should still check each one on the official search. If you are choosing a firm toincorporate a Hong Kong company, run the search before you pay.