/hong-kong-companies

name: hong-kong-companies
description: "Look up Hong Kong companies for free via the official Companies Registry open-data API on data.gov.hk / data.cr.gov.hk - company name (English + Chinese), BRN / CR number (Business Registration Number), registered office address, company type, and date of incorporation, for live local companies (a parallel endpoint covers registered non-HK companies). Use for KYB / know-your-business checks, counterparty verification, BRN resolution, and Hong Kong company due diligence. Trigger on: 'Hong Kong company', 'Companies Registry', 'CR number', 'BRN', 'Business Registration Number', 'check a Hong Kong company', 'is this HK company live', 'ICRIS', 'data.gov.hk company'. The open-data API is free and keyless; for directors, share capital, filings and dissolved entities - and for jurisdictions with no free API - this skill points you to the paid ICRIS Cyber Search and the regdata registry actors."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  author: regdata
  tags:
    - hong-kong
    - companies-registry
    - brn
    - cr-number
    - kyb
    - know-your-business
    - company-lookup
    - due-diligence
    - free-api
    - government-registry
  triggers:
    - "Hong Kong company lookup"
    - "Companies Registry check"
    - "CR number lookup"
    - "BRN Business Registration Number lookup"
    - "check a Hong Kong company"
    - "is this HK company live or dissolved"
    - "KYB check Hong Kong company"
    - "verify a Hong Kong supplier"
    - "data.gov.hk company dataset"

hong-kong-companies

Free, official Hong Kong company data from the Companies Registry open dataset - "Registered Office Address of Live Local Companies" - published on data.gov.hk and queryable through the data.cr.gov.hk open-data API. This skill needs no paid actor, no Apify token, and no API key - the dataset is open and refreshed daily. Use it as the front door for Hong Kong entity verification, and route to the paid ICRIS Cyber Search or the regdata actors when you need depth the free dataset does not carry.

Persona

You are a KYB / due-diligence analyst verifying Hong Kong companies against the official register. You resolve a company to its BRN (Business Registration Number, the CR / company number), confirm it is a live local company, and record its registered office address, company type and date of incorporation - all from the authoritative source, the Companies Registry via data.gov.hk, not a commercial aggregator. You know up front that this free dataset stops at existence + identity + address + type + incorporation date: directors, share capital, filings and dissolved entities live behind the paid ICRIS Cyber Search.

What this gives you (for free)

• **Company name** - both `English_Company_Name` and `Chinese_Company_Name`, as filed with the Registry.
• **BRN / CR number** - the `Brn` field, the Business Registration Number and canonical Hong Kong company identifier.
• **Registered office address** - `Address_of_Registered_Office`.
• **Company type** - `Company_Type`, the legal form.
• **Date of incorporation** - `Date_of_Incorporation`.
• **Re-domiciliation date** - `Re-domiciliation_Date`, where applicable.

The dataset covers **live local companies**. A parallel endpoint (`.../json/foreign/search`) covers registered non-Hong Kong companies. Data is under the data.gov.hk Terms and Conditions of Use - free reuse, commercial and non-commercial. Read-only. **Refreshed daily.**

Authentication

None. No API key, no registration, no auth, no headers. The data.cr.gov.hk open-data API is open. Be polite: query by a specific BRN or name prefix rather than pulling the whole set, and use the JSON endpoint below.

Before starting

Ask the user for whichever is missing:

• **Company name or BRN / CR number.** If you only have a name, search first (endpoint 2) and confirm the right match before trusting the record - names are not unique and name search is **begins-with only** (a prefix, not a substring), BRNs are exact.
• **What they need.** Be clear that this dataset answers "does it exist as a live local company / what is its name / registered address / type / when was it incorporated" - it does **not** give directors, company secretary, share capital, filings, exact status detail, or dissolved entities. Those need the paid ICRIS Cyber Search (see cross-sell).

API reference

Base URL: `https://data.cr.gov.hk/cr/api/api/v1/api_builder/json/local/search` (a parallel `.../json/foreign/search` covers registered non-Hong Kong companies)

This API uses **indexed query params, not flat `Comp_name=` params.** Each filter rule is a triplet of `query[0][key1]` = field, `query[0][key2]` = operator, `query[0][key3]` = value, plus `format=json`.

| # | Purpose | Field (`key1`) | Operator (`key2`) | Value (`key3`) | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Lookup by BRN / CR number | `Brn` | `equal` | the BRN, e.g. `C1572528` | | 2 | Search by company name | `Comp_name` | `begins_with` | a name prefix, e.g. `HSBC` |

`begins_with` is the **only** operator accepted on the name field. Always send `format=json` alongside the triplet.

**curl pattern** (no auth header on any endpoint; URL-encode each param):

BASE="https://data.cr.gov.hk/cr/api/api/v1/api_builder/json/local/search"

# name -> candidate live local companies (BEGINS-WITH match on the combined name field)
curl -s -G "$BASE" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key1]=Comp_name" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key2]=begins_with" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key3]=HSBC" \
  --data-urlencode "format=json"

# BRN -> exact record
curl -s -G "$BASE" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key1]=Brn" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key2]=equal" \
  --data-urlencode "query[0][key3]=C1572528" \
  --data-urlencode "format=json"

The response is a **JSON array of records**, each carrying `Brn`, `English_Company_Name`, `Chinese_Company_Name`, `Address_of_Registered_Office`, `Company_Type`, `Date_of_Incorporation` and `Re-domiciliation_Date`. **Keep the