There were 81,974 new local firms registered under the Companies Ordinance in 2006 in Hong Kong, up 11.74 percent over 2005, the Information Services Department of the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said Tuesday.

However, according to the statistics released by the department, the number of new overseas companies establishing a place of business in Hong Kong in 2006 fell 1.94 percent to 608.

The total number of live companies and overseas companies registered were 591,944 and 7,709, up 42,712 and 221 from the end of 2005.

The Companies Registry has strengthened its efforts in enforcing compliance with the provisions of the Companies Ordinance and has further increased the number of summonses issued during the year, the department said.

The total number of summonses issued last year against companies for breaches of the Companies Ordinance, mainly for failure to file annual returns, was 6,028, a rise of 74.12 percent from 3,462 in 2005.

The year also saw 2,294 convictions, compared with 1,467 in 2005. The total amount of fines imposed for convictions in 2006 was 13 million Hong Kong dollars (1.67 million U.S. dollars), compared with 9.5 million Hong Kong dollars (1.22 million U.S. dollars) in 2005.

The number of charges on the assets of companies received in 2006 fell 9.32 percent, from 33,470 to 30,349. The number of satisfactions and releases received also fell 19.64 percent to 21, 653, the department said.