MASONIC BENEVOLENCE FUND INCORPORATION ORDINANCE

MASONIC BENEVOLENCE FUND INCORPORATION ORDINANCE

LAWS OF HONG KONG

MASONIC BENEVOLENCE FUND

INCORPORATION ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 1034





CHAPTER 1034

MASONIC BENEVOLENCE FUND INCORPORATION

To Provide for the incorporation of the trustees of the Hong Kong and Far East
Masonic Benei.olence Fund.

(Aniended, 48 of 1978. s. 2)

[2 August 1893.1

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Masonic Benevolence Fund
Incorporatof1911;1 of 1912, 1924,s.6) f

2. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires

'custodian trustee' means the custodian trustee appointed in
accordance with section 5.

(A dded, 19 of 1966, s. 2)

3. (1) The trustees of the Hong Kong and Far East Masonic
Benevolence Fund, who have been certified as such on behalf of the
corporation by a statutory declaration made by the secretary and filed
with the Registrar of Companies, shall be a body corporate, hereinafter
called the corporation, and shall have the name of 'The Hong Kong and
Far East Masonic Benvolence Fund Corporation', and by that name shall
have perpetual succession, and shall and may sue and be sued in all
courts, and shall and may have and use a common seal. (Amended, 50 ol'
1911; 51 of 1911; 1 of' 1912, Schedule; 2 of 1912. Schedule and 48 of 1978. s.
3)

(2) The said corporation shall have full power to direct the
custodian trustee to acquire, accept leases of, purchase, take, hold, and
enjoy any lands, buildings, messuages, or tenements of what nature or
kind soever, and wheresoever situate in the Colony or elsewhere, and
also to invest moneys on deposit in any bank either in the Colony or
elsewhere on such terms as may seem expedient to it, or on mortgage of
any lands, buildings, messuages, or tenements in the Colony or
elsewhere. (Amended, 19 of 1966 s. 3)

(3) The said corporation is hereby further empowered to direct the
custodian trustee to grant, sell, convey, assign, surrender and yield up,
mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer, or otherwise dispose of or deal
with any lands, buildings, messuages, tenements, mortgages, or
debentures vested in the said corporation, on such terms as to the said
corporation may seem fit. (Amended, 50 of 1911, and 1 of 1912, Schedule
and 19 qf 1966, s. 3)





(4) The corporation shall have full power to direct the custodian
trustee to invest any funds not immediately required in any of the
following in accordance with the conditions stipulated hereunder

(a)investments authorized by the Trustee Investments Act 1961
of the United Kingdom;

(b)mortgages of leasehold property in the Colony of which the
unexpired term at the time of investment is not less than 16
years;

(c)securities of the Government of the United Kingdom, the
Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, Norway
or Denmark;

(d)securities (which word when used in this paragraph and
.paragraph (e) shall include stocks, stock units, shares,
debentures, shares and deposits in building societies and
deposits with finance companies which accept deposits from
members of the public in the ordinary course of their business
provided such finance companies are wholly owned, or in
which a controlling interest is held, by a bank of repute, the
shares or stock of which bank would be an authorized
investment within the terms of the conditions of this
subsection) issued in the United Kingdom, the Dominion of
Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States
of America by a company incorporated in one of those
countries and having a fully paid up capital of not less than
the equivalent of 16 million Hong Kong dollars of the currency
of the country concerned calculated at the rate of exchange
ruling at the time the investment is made and having paid a
dividend for not less than the previous 5 consecutive years;

(e)securities issued in the Colony by a company incorporated in
the Colony and having a fully paid up capital of not less than
5 million Hong Kong dollars and having paid dividends for
not less than the previous 5 consecutive years,

and may from time to time direct the custodian trustee to sell, convey,
assign, reassign, -transfer, surrender and yield up all or any of such
investments and may similarly in its absolute discretion from time to time
direct the custodian trustee to reinvest the proceeds thereof in part or in
whole in any of the said, investments as aforesaid. (Replaced,19 of
1966, s. 3)

(5) The custodian trustee may invest in its name or under its control
in such manner as the custodian trustee thinks fit or in the name of any
limited liability company or corporation as nominee or nominees of the
custodian trustee and any such investments or property as aforesaid or
any other property subject to the trusts hereof may remain for any
period however long in the name or names of such nominee or nominees
at the sole discretion of the

custodian trustee.(Replaced, 19 of 1966, s. 3)





(6) The corporation shall also have full power to direct the
custodian trustee to receive and accept gifts, donations, contributions
or legacies and to hold or realize the same in its absolute discretion
subject to any conditions attached to such gifts, donations,
contributions and legacies. (Added, 19 of 1966, s. 3)

(7) The custodian trustee shall be deemed to have all powers
required to give effect to any direction made by the corporation under
this section as though the custodian trustee were the absolute owner of
the funds vested in the custodian trustee: Provided that all deeds and
other instruments requiring the seal of the corporation shall be scaled
and signed as provided in section 4. (Added, 19 of 1966,s.3)

4. All deeds and other instruments requiring execution by the said
corporation shall be sealed with its seal and signed in manner provided
by its by-laws.

(Amended, 51 of 1911 and 2 of 1912, Schedule)

5. Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong (Trustee) Limited,
shall be, and is hereby appointed, custodian trustee for the corporation
to hold all or any property vested in it on behalf of the corporation upon
the trusts declared in section 4(2) of the Public Trustee Act 1906 subject
to the reference therein to the Trustee Act 1893 being construed to refer
to the Trustee Ordinance, and the appointment of the custodian trustee
shall be upon the usual terms and conditions for the time being in force
including those governing the right to remuneration in accordance with
the published scale of fees or such other scale of fees as may from time
to time be agreed between the custodian trustee and the corporation.

(Added, 19 of 1966, s. 4)

6. The corporation shall keep proper books of account with respect
to all sums of money received and expended by the corporation and the
matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place and
the assets and liabilities of the corporation. The corporation instead of
keeping such accounts itself may employ the custodian trustee to keep
such accounts and may pay the custodian trustee for such work.

(Added, 19 of 1966, s. 4)

7. (1) The said corporation may adopt the existing by-laws of the
Hong Kong and South China Masonic Benevolence Fund, so far as they
are not inconsistent with this Ordinance, and may (notwithstanding that
such existing by-laws provide that alterations therein can be proposed
only at the annual meeting therein mentioned) alter the same, or may
frame other by-laws for its internal management and control. (Amended,
50 of 1911 and 1 of 1912, Schedule)

(2) All such by-laws, when agreed upon by the said corporation,
shall be binding on every member thereof.





(3) A copy of the by-laws, and of any amendment thereof, certified
as correct by the secretary, shall be deposited and filed with the
Registrar of Companies. (Amended, 50 of 1911; 51 of 1911; 1 of 1912,
Schedule and 2 of 1912, Schedule)

8. (1) There shall be payable by the corporation to the Registrar of
Companies a fee of $3 on the deposit and filing of each copy of the by-
laws, and a further fee of $3 for the making and filing of every such
declaration as is mentioned in section 3.

(2) A fee of 50 cents shall be payable for every search of the file.

9. Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or be deemed to affect the
rights of Her Majesty the Queen, Her Heirs or Successors, or the rights
of any body politic or corporate or of any other persons except such as
are mentioned in this Ordinance and those claiming by, from or under
them.

(Replaced, 37 of 1950, Schedule)
Originally 11 of 1893. (Cap. 297, 1950.) 50 of 1911. 51 of 1911. 1 of 1912. 2 of 1912. 5 of 1924. 37 of 1950. 48 of 1955. 23 of 1957. 19 of 1966. 48 of 1978. Short title. Interpretation. Incorporation of trustees of Hong Kong and Far East Masonic Benevolence Fund. Execution of deeds, etc. Appointment of custodian trustee. (Cap. 29.) Keeping of accounts. Adoption and making of by-laws, etc. Fees. Saving.

Originally 11 of 1893. (Cap. 297, 1950.) 50 of 1911. 51 of 1911. 1 of 1912. 2 of 1912. 5 of 1924. 37 of 1950. 48 of 1955. 23 of 1957. 19 of 1966. 48 of 1978. Short title. Interpretation. Incorporation of trustees of Hong Kong and Far East Masonic Benevolence Fund. Execution of deeds, etc. Appointment of custodian trustee. (Cap. 29.) Keeping of accounts. Adoption and making of by-laws, etc. Fees. Saving.

https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/3504

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