Hong Kong Notary Service

What is anotarypublic?

A notary public(sometimes referred to as simply a notary) is an individualpublic officerauthorized to witness signatures, administer oaths and conductother similaractions.  In Hong Kong almost all notaries are solicitors. Anotary is recognizedinternationally and nearly all the actions conducted by anotary are requiredfor use in a foreign jurisdiction. Unlike a solicitor anotary does not givelegal advice when acting in his official capacity.

Proof of identity

Before notarizinga signature a notary must obtain satisfactory evidenceof the identity of thesignatory or deponent. He must also satisfy himself thatthe signatoryunderstands the document he is signing. He will have to actuallysee thesignatory sign the document.

Notaries acts onbehalf of corporations

Corporationsfrequently need to have documents executed in the presence of anotary in whichcase the notary will have to satisfy himself as to the identityof both thecompany and the officer executing the document on its behalf. Thenotary at hisdiscretion may need to see the original company documents, copiesof filings atthe Companies Registry or make other enquires. In the case offilings at thecompanies Registry he will have to conduct the search himself.

Apostil

Sometimes theforeign jurisdiction additionally requires that the document be apostilled.This is a procedure whereby the Hong  Kong Court verifies the signature ofthe notary. Wecan arrange for this to be done. The court usually requires twoclear days toapostil a notary’s signature.

Documentsrequiring notarization

A large variety ofdocuments for both private and public use require thesignatures on them to benotarized and when executing a document for a foreignjurisdiction it issensible to enquire in advance whether notarization orapostilling is required.It is also desirable to provide us with a copy of thedocument in advance so wecan check what proofs may be required.