The local language is Cantonese, though Mandarin is on the rise. The use of English is common in business. Both, Chinese and English are the languages of the courts. Banks do not provide information on their clients. For private limited companies, public limited companies and overseas companies, hard-copy data is available from the government Company Registry.
Companies file annually.
For sole proprietorships and partnerships, only the name of the owners can be obtained from Inland Revenue, the tax authority. Land searches are possible and detailed, but the user must supply the property's address, there being no index listing owners' names. A court writ in itself is not necessarily negative, it definitely warrants additional investigation to clarify its significance. The 600 Public Companies whose shares are traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, all publish annual reports. Privately held companies, wary about sharing information with unknown sources, are not obligated to reveal their finances.