HLB Hong Kong rolls out new branding
HLB Hodgson Impey Cheng Limited, the Hong Kong member firm of HLB International, will roll out new HLB branding by the end of June. The new brand, which HLB International launched in October 2018, includes a new logo, website and tagline “Together we make it happen.” The firm says the new brand supports HLB’s transformation into a modern, full service advisory and accounting mid-tier network. “What remain the same are our commitments to our clients and the quality of our work,” says Raymond Cheng, Chairman of HLB Hodgson Impey Cheng Limited.
IASB will not add to sustainability rules
The International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) Chairman Hans Hoogervorst this month signaled little appetite for setting standards on sustainability reporting. “I do not think the IASB is equipped to enter the field of sustainability reporting directly. Setting sustainability reporting standards requires expertise that we simply do not have. Moreover, there are already more than enough standard-setters active in this field,” Hoogervorst told a Climate-Related Financial Reporting Conference at Cambridge University. With so many standards in the sustainability reporting space, he highlighted the enormous potential for “disclosure overload” and the need for consolidation. “To give one example, Tesla is ranked highest in terms of the sustainability index of MSCI, while FTSE ranks it as the worst carmaker globally on environmental, social and governance issues. Yet another agency puts it somewhere in the middle,” he said. The best way to make companies change is by having standards that focus on the impact of sustainability issues on future returns, he added.
Hong Kong IPO market sees strong first quarter
Hong Kong’s initial public offering (IPO) market has been generating the biggest first-quarter returns in years, South China Morning Post reported this month. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, 11 companies selling IPO shares worth at least US$100 million saw increases by an average of 11 percent a month after the first day of trading. It was the largest gain ever recorded in four years. Chinese biotechnology company CStone Pharmaceuticals was the city’s biggest IPO, raising US$327.8 million and rising 31 percent a month since trading. “The improved performance of Hong Kong’s IPO shares are mostly due to the good momentum on the stock market and investors are inclined to give new shares higher valuations when sentiment on the secondary market is good,” Ken Chen Hao, Strategist at KGI Securities Shanghai, said.
U.K. watchdog opens full review of KPMG
Britain’s accounting watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), has launched an independent review of the governance, controls and culture at Big Four firm KPMG, following its role in the collapse of construction company Carillion. The review, which will take place at the end of the year, will look at the firm’s risk management, and assess whether it is capable of delivering high-quality audits in the U.K. It follows a 2018 quality assessment by the FRC, which found that around 50 percent of audits done by KPMG were below standard. “We are cooperating fully with the various inquiries currently underway, engaging actively with the reviews of the audit sector, and, where we can, we are moving ahead and taking action ourselves,” said a KPMG spokesman.
BDO plans to split U.K. audit and consulting units
BDO, the United Kingdom’s fifth-largest accounting firm, said plans to split its U.K. audit and non-audit businesses had “swung into motion” this month, following calls by British members of parliament to break up the Big Four. BDO said the move would create an audit subsidiary of 2,000 staff and a non-audit subsidiary of 3,000 staff, both operating under a single U.K. parent company, though plans are still in the early stages. A BDO spokesman said: “At the moment we are scenario planning for a variety of potential outcomes, one of which includes moving our audit practice to a separate subsidiary within the BDO LLP Group, so we can demonstrate it is sufficiently profitable and operates within a controlled environment focused on quality.”
40%
The percentage of middle-class earners who say they would need at least HK$5 million to cover retirement expenses, according a survey by China Construction Bank (Asia). The bank surveyed 2,500 Hongkongers on their wealth management habits, and found that 22 percent were saving to buy their children property, and 12 percent were saving for their children’s weddings.
US$4.5 million
The amount to bail out former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested last year on financial misconduct charges. Ghosn was previously released on bail in March after 108 days in custody but re-arrested earlier this month over similar charges. He denies all charges and will be put on trial later this year.
US$1.25 billion
The amount China’s oldest brokerage company Shenwan Hongyuan is seeking to raise from its Hong Kong IPO listing this year. The company plans to set 2.5 billion shares priced between HK$3.63 and HK$3.93 apiece, and is set to become the 12th Chinese brokerage firm with dual listings in Hong Kong and Mainland markets.
Standard Chartered fined over AML controls
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Standard Chartered Bank £102.2 million for failures in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls. It is the second-highest fine the FCA have given for such an offense. It comes after an investigation into Standard Chartered’s Wholesale Bank Correspondent Banking business in the U.K. between 2010 and 2013 and the bank’s branches in the United Arab Emirates between 2009 and 2014. The regulator said Standard Chartered had “failed to establish and maintain risk-sensitive policies and procedures, and failed to ensure its UAE branches applied U.K. equivalent AML and counter-terrorist financing controls.”
IPO brewing for Chinese Starbucks rival
Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee is planning to file an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in a bid to dislodge Starbucks as the dominant coffee network in Mainland China. The Beijing-based coffee start-up, which is valued at US$2.9 billion, plans to raise US$300 million from the IPO, and will be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LK. Starbucks currently owns more than half of Mainland China’s market share, according to Euromonitor. Luckin, which focuses on cashless payment and fast delivery, plans to use the proceeds for store expansions. Since its inception in June 2017, Luckin has opened 2,370 stores in 28 cities.
KPMG Botswana appoints first female partner
KPMG in Botswana has named Gosego Motsamai as its new Managing Partner. Motsamai is the first female partner at the firm and one of two female Batswana partners in the Big Four across the country. “I look forward to working with the team and lead KPMG through these challenging times as we look to rebuild trust and become the clear choice,” said Motsamai. Executive Chairman of KPMG Southern Africa, Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, made the announcement this month, saying: “I am certain that under Gosego’s leadership, we will see KPMG Botswana continue to be a leading professional services firm in the country.” Motsamai, who is also President of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants, started her career at Deloitte before moving to KPMG in 1998.
Footballer cleared of tax evasion
Brighton Striker Glenn Murray and his wife have both been cleared of tax evasion charges, following an arrest last year January. The pair were investigated by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for evading income tax totalling £1.1 million and cheating public revenue, while Murray was further investigated for avoiding value added tax. The couple’s Brighton home was raided and items such as personal and business documents and computer equipment were seized by HMRC officers. The pair were interrogated for several hours over the allegations, before being released on bail. Following an investigation, the HMRC has refused to rule out further action. In a statement, a spokesman said: “The criminal investigation relating to a couple arrested in January 2018 has concluded and neither have been charged with any criminal offense.”
