The buyer market in Hong Kong
The Companies Registry is the filing source. Paid search runs through ICRIS and the Cyber Search Centre, now the e-Services Portal. The Hong Kong company search guide still documents ICRIS at icris.cr.gov.hk, HKD 22-340 (~USD 2.80-43.60), and no general public ICRIS REST API as of May 2026.
A register hit proves a company exists. An IRD Business Registration extract is a parallel tax check. Commercial credit reports and KYB APIs sit on top. None of those products is the Significant Controllers Register. Search volume is UNKNOWN. last30days (30 July 2026 to 29 August 2026) named zero suppliers. Named products below are from the live search guide or first-party pages, not from forums, Reddit, or Hacker News. X, YouTube, and TikTok were not used.
The same official-then-commercial stack appears in the Malaysia company data suppliers buyer’s guide. Vendor copy sells the company-held UBO gap.
The 6 supplier categories
1. Companies Registry, ICRIS, and the e-Services Portal
Local companies and registered non-Hong Kong companies sit under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622). Electronic search and filing go through the e-Services Portal (Revamped ICRIS, 27 December 2023, External Circular No. 4/2023).
Name, document-index, charges-index, and disqualification-index searches are free. The Price Guide to Main Services (May 2025) lists Company Particulars Search at HKD 22 (~USD 2.80), online image records at HKD 9-29 (~USD 1.15-3.70), and an e-Search principal account at HKD 500 (~USD 64) per year. The search guide’s HKD 22-340 band remains a ceiling for certified products.
ICRIS has no general public REST search API. TPSI uploads e-forms into ICRIS. It is filing, not a search feed.
A separate open-data lookup at data.cr.gov.hk returns basic particulars by BRN or name, updated daily. It is a lookup, not a full filing feed.
From 17 August 2026, iAM Smart+ holders can file Form NAR1 and Form NR1 without an e-Services account. Filing, not search. Not a data product.
2. IRD Business Registration (parallel check)
The Business Registration Office issues the Business Registration Certificate under Cap. 310. Incorporated companies usually have both a CR record and a business registration. Sole proprietors and partnerships may have only the IRD record. eTAX offers BRN enquiry and paid Business Register extracts. IRD is a parallel check, not a CR substitute. Best fit: trading-name checks and unincorporated businesses that never appear on ICRIS.
3. Extra official layers for licensed and listed firms
Not vendors. Licensed-firm register coverage is a separate buy from company-particulars and ICRIS coverage. An ICRIS extract does not show SFC licence status.
The only operator-adjacent last30days signal was watching the SFC public register (CE number) for a new responsible officer, a rebrand, or Type 9 (asset management) status. That is licence watch, not a ranking of company-data suppliers.
- SFC register of licensed persons and registered institutions (daily)
- HKMA registers for authorized institutions and relevant individuals
- HKEX issuer filings and disclosure of interests under Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance
4. Dun and Bradstreet Hong Kong
Dun and Bradstreet Hong Kong has operated the Commercial Credit Reference Agency (CCRA) since 2004 for the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the DTCA. The live search guide already names D&B Hong Kong as a commercial alternative to ICRIS. Products are credit reports that add trade and payment history to registry data. No public list price was on the first-party Hong Kong page as of 29 August 2026. Best fit: lenders who need credit behaviour, not a self-serve ICRIS substitute.
5. Experian Hong Kong
Experian Hong Kong sells standard, advance, and overview credit reports, plus due diligence and international reports via QuestNet. The live search guide already names Experian Hong Kong. Per-report prices were not listed on those pages as of 29 August 2026. Best fit: trade credit and group Experian contracts, not a certified CR extract.
6. KYB platforms and structured data packages (AsiaVerify, Renavon)
AsiaVerify describes registry-sourced Hong Kong KYB via portal, API, and bulk upload, plus UBO mapping derived from filings. Renavon sells an HK Corporate Diligence Compliance Pass covering a CR directory and filings index, HKEX directors and insider disclosures, SFC extracts, and the money lenders register. For both, pricing is contract or not publicly listed as a range. First-party pages, not last30days picks, and not Hong Kong rows in the jurisdiction supplier directory.
Comparison matrix
| Supplier | Coverage | UBO depth | Freshness | API | Pricing (indicative) | Best-fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CR / ICRIS / e-Services | Official HK companies and filings | None public (SCR company-held) | As filed | No public search API | Particulars HKD 22 (~USD 2.80); images HKD 9-29 (~USD 1.15-3.70); e-Search HKD 500/year | Official extract |
| data.cr.gov.hk | Basic particulars by BRN or name | None | Daily | Open-data lookup | Free | Structured identity ping |
| IRD Business Registration | Business Register (Cap. 310) | None | As registered | No public API | Paid extracts via eTAX | Parallel BR check |
| SFC / HKMA / HKEX | Licensed and listed subset | Part XV interests for listed names | Daily / as filed | Public web registers | Free public registers | Licence and listing checks |
| Dun and Bradstreet HK | Registry plus credit / CCRA | Derived commercial graph | Commercial refresh | Enterprise (contract) | Not publicly listed | Credit and SME lending |
| Experian HK | Registry plus credit reports | Derived commercial graph | Commercial refresh | Enterprise (contract) | Not publicly listed | Trade credit, group Experian |
| AsiaVerify | Registry-sourced KYB wrapper | Derived from filings, not SCR | Vendor-stated real-time | Yes | Contract or not publicly listed as a range | API onboarding |
| Renavon Compliance Pass | CR directory, HKEX, SFC, money lenders | Not the SCR | Vendor-stated hours | Yes | Contract or not publicly listed as a range | Listed-entity screening |
How to choose
Fit, not a ranked winner. Official extract: e-Services Portal. Identity ping: data.cr.gov.hk. Licence watch (new RO, rebrand, Type 9): SFC register, a separate buy from ICRIS. Credit: D&B or Experian as named on the live search guide and first-party pages. KYB API or HKEX/SFC data pass: first-party product pages, not last30days picks. A vendor UBO graph is not the Significant Controllers Register.
Compliance posture: SCR, PDPO, and what vendors cannot sell
The Significant Controllers Register comes from the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 (in force 1 March 2018). Applicable Hong Kong-incorporated companies (listed companies exempt) keep it at the registered office or another place in Hong Kong. Law enforcement can inspect it on demand. It is not a public UBO dump at the Registry. Commercial “Hong Kong UBO” products are derived from shareholder filings, group graphs, and questionnaires. That is the gap vendors sell.
Director and other personal data from registry records fall under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), administered by the PCPD. Public-register data remains personal data when reused. A supplier contract does not automatically cover downstream use.
businessdataguide is editorial. We compare. We do not resell registry data. ICRIS walkthrough: Hong Kong company search guide. Jurisdiction directory: /suppliers/hong-kong. Same shape in another market: Malaysia company data suppliers buyer’s guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a public REST API for ICRIS search?
No. As of May 2026 the live search guide records none. Structured basic lookup exists at data.cr.gov.hk (daily open data, not a filing feed). TPSI is a filing upload interface, not a search API.
Does Hong Kong have a public UBO register?
No. The Significant Controllers Register is held by the company. Vendor UBO products are derived, not the SCR.
Which route is cheapest for a one-off company check?
Free CR name and index search, then HKD 22 (~USD 2.80) for Company Particulars. data.cr.gov.hk is free for basic fields.