Hong Kong’s National Security Law (NSL) is legislation imposed by Beijing in June 2020 that criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, later supplemented by the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO). For a foreign investor deciding whether to register a company there in 2026, the honest answer sits between two extremes. Government data shows Hong Kong’s role as a financial hub has largely recovered since 2020, but the legal environment has also kept expanding, most recently in March 2026. Both things are true at once, and the right response depends on what kind of business you’re running.
Key Takeaways
- Hong Kong ranked third globally in the March 2026 Global Financial Centres Index, just one point behind London and two behind New York, with a rating that has risen for three straight editions.
- The number of regional headquarters based in Hong Kong fell from 1,541 in 2019 to roughly 1,336 in 2023, then recovered to 1,510 in 2025, according to official Census and Statistics Department data, not yet back to the 2019 peak but clearly moving the other way.
- On March 23, 2026, Hong Kong changed the implementing rules of the National Security Law so that refusing to give police your device password is now a criminal offense, a change that applies to residents, visitors, and anyone transiting Hong Kong International Airport.
- AmCham Hong Kong’s 2026 member survey found 92 percent of multinational respondents have no plan to relocate their headquarters, though this figure comes from a self-selected chamber membership survey, not an independent audit.
What Does the Global Financial Centres Index Show About Hong Kong in 2026?
The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) is a semi-annual ranking of the world’s financial centres, published by the UK-based Z/Yen Group together with the China Development Institute in Shenzhen. It is one of the few independent, methodology-driven measures of financial hub competitiveness, which makes it a useful counterweight to both government press releases and advocacy reports.
In the GFCI 39 report, released in March 2026, Hong Kong held third place globally with a rating of 765, trailing New York (767) and London (766) by just one and two points. That is a narrower gap than in several previous editions, and Hong Kong kept its number one position in Asia-Pacific, plus a first-place ranking in fintech offerings specifically. Hong Kong’s rating has climbed for three consecutive editions: 760 in March 2025, 764 in September 2025, and 765 in March 2026.
Worth noting: Hong Kong briefly lost the Asia-Pacific top spot to Singapore in 2022, before reclaiming it in September 2024. So the current run of improving ratings follows a real dip, not a straight line upward the whole time. That context matters if you’re trying to judge whether the current recovery is durable or a short-term bounce.
Are Multinational Companies Actually Leaving Hong Kong?
This is the question most “is Hong Kong still good for business” articles gesture at without ever showing the actual numbers. The Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department runs an annual survey, on behalf of Invest Hong Kong, counting every company operating in Hong Kong with a parent company based elsewhere. It is the closest thing to a real headcount that exists, rather than a sentiment reading.
Here is what that count looked like across the years that matter most for this question:
| Year | Regional Headquarters (RHQ) | Total Companies with Overseas Parents |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 (pre-NSL baseline) | 1,541 | n/a |
| 2021 | 1,457 | n/a |
| 2022 | 1,411 | n/a |
| 2023 | approx. 1,336 (down 13.3% from 2019) | n/a |
| 2024 | 1,410 (up 10% year on year) | 9,960 |
| 2025 | 1,510 | 11,070 (509,000 employees) |
Read plainly, this is a U-shaped curve. Headquarters count fell for roughly four straight years after 2019, driven by a mix of Covid-era travel restrictions, the 2020 NSL, and separately reported departures like FedEx’s 2023 move to Singapore. It then turned and has been rising since 2024. As of 2025, the count still sits below the 2019 peak, so the honest framing is “recovering but not fully recovered,” not “back to normal” and not “still in decline.”
One detail inside the same dataset is easy to miss. Mainland Chinese firms overtook American firms in Hong Kong’s regional headquarters count for the first time in 2022, and the composition has kept shifting since. By 2025, mainland China accounted for the largest share of regional headquarters (350), ahead of Japan (220) and the United States (200). The total headcount recovering doesn’t mean it’s the same companies coming back. It’s a different mix of companies, weighted more toward mainland and Asian firms than before.
Notes from InvestinAsia Consultants
Clients often ask us to explain the headline number without the composition shift underneath it, and that’s the part that actually changes their decision. A trading or holding company plugging into China-facing supply chains is entering a Hong Kong that looks more mainland-oriented than it did in 2019. A Western consumer brand expecting the old expat-heavy, US-dominated business community should adjust that expectation before they commit to a lease.
What Changed Under the National Security Law and the 2026 Update?
The National Security Law was imposed by Beijing in June 2020, followed in 2024 by Hong Kong’s own Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, often referred to as Article 23. Together they criminalize a broad set of activities, expand police search and seizure powers, and created new mechanisms for handling national security cases outside the ordinary court process.
The most recent development matters specifically because of how current it is. On March 23, 2026, the Hong Kong government changed the SNSO’s implementing rules. Refusing to provide police with a password or decryption assistance for a personal electronic device is now a criminal offense. This applies broadly: residents, visitors, and anyone simply transiting through Hong Kong International Airport, including foreign nationals with no other connection to the city. Authorities also gained expanded power to seize and retain personal devices as evidence.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2026 Hong Kong Policy Act Report, the department continues to treat exports to Hong Kong under the same export control policy applied to mainland China, a position first adopted in December 2020, and it noted 15 local entities designated for acting against US foreign policy interests during the reporting period. AmCham’s own members, on the other hand, reported a more mixed but improving picture: 74 percent said the NSL had not negatively affected their operations in the 2026 survey, up from 70 percent the year before, even as some flagged indirect effects like overseas perception as an ongoing concern.
Both of those things are accurate and come from credible, named sources. They just measure different things: one is a government’s formal legal position, the other is a survey of a self-selected chamber membership that skews toward companies still operating there. Neither should be read as the full picture on its own.
Which Types of Businesses Carry the Most Risk in Hong Kong Today?
Generic “is Hong Kong safe” content tends to score the entire city with one number, when the actual exposure varies a lot by what your business does. Based on the legal changes and advisories above, a rough risk split looks like this.
Lower relative exposure
Standard holding companies, international trading operations, e-commerce, manufacturing-adjacent sourcing, and most professional services fall into this group. These are the business types AmCham members overwhelmingly represent, and the 74 percent “no negative operational impact” figure is drawn largely from this population. If your Hong Kong entity exists to hold shares, manage IP, or route trade invoicing, as covered in InvestinAsia’s guide to onshore versus offshore structures in Asia, the National Security Law has limited direct bearing on your day-to-day operations.
Elevated relative exposure
Due diligence, background-check, investment-screening, and forensic accounting firms sit in a different category. Security analysts have specifically flagged that Hong Kong authorities could characterize this kind of research work as intelligence gathering targeting state secrets, mirroring a pattern already seen with similar firms on the mainland. Journalists, NGOs, and staff who regularly transit through Hong Kong carrying sensitive client data on personal devices also face a materially different risk profile after the March 2026 device-decryption rule than a company simply invoicing clients from a Hong Kong holding entity.
Notes from InvestinAsia Consultants
When a founder asks us “is it safe,” the useful follow-up question is what data or research their team actually carries on devices when moving through Hong Kong, not just what their company does on paper. Two businesses with identical corporate structures can have very different practical risk depending on whether their staff are carrying client due diligence files or simply a laptop with accounting software.
Every business sits somewhere on that spectrum, and the right next step is a structure review calibrated to where your specific operations actually fall, not a generic yes or no.
Not sure where your business falls on that spectrum?
InvestinAsia’s team reviews your specific activity and data exposure before you commit to a Hong Kong structure.
Is Hong Kong’s Capital Market Momentum a Reliable Signal?
Capital flows are harder to fake than sentiment surveys, which makes Hong Kong’s IPO data a useful cross-check on everything above. In 2025, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange topped the global IPO fundraising rankings for the first time since 2019, with figures reported between HK$272 billion and HK$285.8 billion depending on the source and cutoff date used, representing well over a 200 percent jump from 2024. That momentum has continued into 2026: HK$109.9 billion was raised across 40 listings in the first quarter alone, the strongest first quarter in five years, followed by HK$210 billion in the first half, up 92 percent year on year.
A meaningful share of that rebound comes from mainland Chinese companies pursuing dual listings in Hong Kong and on domestic exchanges, known as A+H listings, rather than from a broad base of new international entrants. That’s worth flagging rather than glossing over. Capital returning to Hong Kong’s markets is a genuine positive signal, but it’s a different signal than “foreign multinationals are flooding back,” and the two shouldn’t be conflated.
What Does It Cost to Register a Company in Hong Kong Right Now?
Whatever conclusion you draw from the sections above, the mechanics of setting up haven’t changed. A Hong Kong limited company still requires at least one shareholder, one director over 18, a mandatory corporate secretary, and a physical registered office, with no minimum share capital beyond the common HKD 10,000 practice. Incorporation itself is fast, typically within a few business days.
| Package | Total Fee | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | USD 2,644 | Incorporation, government fees, stamp duty, 1 year corporate secretary, Business Registration Certificate, neobank assistance |
| Complete | USD 5,109 | Everything in Essential, plus 1 year registered address, neobank and traditional bank assistance, and accounting and tax filing for up to 600 transactions a year |
Ongoing compliance is where budgets are usually underestimated. Annual audit and tax filing runs roughly USD 2,031 for a dormant company, rising to around USD 3,406 once revenue passes the HKD 5 million mark, and Hong Kong’s territorial tax system still applies profits tax at 8.25 percent on the first HKD 2 million and 16.5 percent above that. For a fuller breakdown of the tax mechanics and how Hong Kong compares to Singapore on cost, InvestinAsia’s guide to why Hong Kong still works for business setup in 2026 covers registration speed and banking timelines in more depth, and the 2026 corporate tax comparison across 10 Asian markets puts Hong Kong’s rate next to Singapore, Indonesia, and the rest of the region.
The risk question and the cost question are separate decisions. Getting the numbers right doesn’t tell you whether the risk profile fits your business, and understanding the risk profile doesn’t tell you what the setup will actually cost. Both need to be answered before you commit.
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References
1. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong records higher rating in Global Financial Centres Index and maintains third place globally (GFCI 39). Retrieved from
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202603/26/P2026032600501.htm
2. Census and Statistics Department, Government of the Hong Kong SAR. Report on Annual Survey of Companies in Hong Kong with Parent Companies Located outside Hong Kong, 2025. Retrieved from
https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/wbr.html?ecode=B11100042025AN25
3. American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. AmCham HK’s 2026 Business Sentiment Survey Finds Improved Outlook for 2026 Amid Ongoing Global Uncertainty. Retrieved from
https://www.amcham.org.hk/news/amcham-hks-2026-business-sentiment-survey-finds-improved-outlook-2026-amid-ongoing-global
4. U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau, U.S. Department of State. 2026 Hong Kong Policy Act Report. Retrieved from
https://hk.usconsulate.gov/2026hkpar/
5. Overseas Security Advisory Council, U.S. Department of State. Security Alert: Hong Kong, Update to National Security Law. Retrieved from
https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/034e3d36-f891-4db8-9b6b-29b97aa1f6e8
6. vOffice. Hong Kong Company Registration Service (Limited Company). Retrieved from
https://voffice.co.id/en/services/company-registration-hongkong
