Can a Hong Kong Company Director Demand Copies of the Accounting Records?

Directors have strong statutory access to their company's books.

• Inspection (s.374): records must be open to inspection by the directors at all times, free of charge.
• Copies (s.375): the company must allow a director to copy the records during inspection and must give a copy without charge on request. A director who asks for hard copy gets hard copy; one who asks for electronic form gets an electronic copy in any format the company thinks fit, unless the records exist only on paper.
• Court help (s.378): a director can apply to the court for an order authorising another person, such as an accountant, to inspect the records on the director's behalf.

A director who fails to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance with the copy rules commits an offence with a level 5 fine (HK$50,000) and a further HK$1,000 for each day the breach continues.

This right is useful when a bookkeeper or accountant is slow to hand over files, or when directors disagree. It applies to directors, not to ordinary shareholders, who have their own more limited rights under other parts of the Ordinance.