HKICPA Council visits Beijing to foster deeper ties
An Institute delegation, led by President Roy Leung, Vice-Presidents Edward Au and Stephen Law, and Chief Executive & Registrar Margaret Chan, visited Beijing on 10-13 June, to meet with key stakeholders including the Ministry of Finance, the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the IFRS Foundation’s Beijing Office.
The visit aimed to foster deeper collaboration between the accounting professions in Hong Kong and the Mainland. A Memorandum of Understanding with the CICPA was signed to enhance cooperation between the accounting sector of the Mainland and Hong Kong in the area of continuing professional development, aiming to nurture top-tier accounting talents for an innovation-driven economy. Other focus areas include healthy development of capital markets and business growth, while also contributing to global sustainability efforts. Read the press release for more details.
The HKICPA Sustainability Community launched
The Institute has launched to the HKICPA Sustainability Community, a dedicated hub for individuals and organizations, including CPAs, who specialize in sustainability. As the sustainability reporting standard setter in Hong Kong, the Institute is an active contributor to the capacity building efforts to support stakeholders in areas related to sustainability.
The community facilitates connections between like-minded professionals, provides comprehensive insights into sustainability trends and regulations, fosters inspiration and knowledge sharing, drives collective efforts in sustainability practices and climate action, and offers networking opportunities.
In the first phase of its launch, community members will gain access to sustainability-related resources, specialized training and knowledge-sharing sessions, as well as newsletters, articles, face-to-face events, and webinars.
The Institute also provides the 1-2-7 Sustainability Capacity Building Framework, a detailed learning framework that incorporate key principles of IFRS S1 and S2, and has also launched the new Sustainability Information Centre, a hub that provides access to sustainability-related resources, including guidelines, case studies, and industry updates to help members enhance their sustainability advisory capabilities.
BCG and ESG Awards 2024 open for entries
The Institute’s Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards (Awards) 2024 is now open for entries. The Awards reflect the importance of both good corporate governance (CG) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and practices for listed companies and public sector/not-for-profit organizations (PSOs), and their investors and stakeholders. Through the Awards, the Institute aims to encourage companies and PSOs to achieve high standards of CG and ESG, and to integrate good CG and ESG into their values, strategies and operations.
Listed companies and PSOs that are seeking recognition from their peers and the wider market for their commitment to high-quality, sustainable practices and reporting should consider entering the Awards. Participation is free. Interested organizations are invited to participate in one of the most prestigious and sought-after awards competitions, by submitting an entry form by 9 August.
The HKICPA Charitable Trust supports members and community
The HKICPA Trust Fund, HKICPA Charitable Fund and HKIAAT Trust Fund have been consolidated into the “HKICPA Charitable Trust”, and operations commenced on 8 July.
The Institute established the HKICPA Trust Fund and the HKICPA Charitable Fund in 2001 and 1998 respectively, with the aim of providing timely support to our members facing severe financial hardship and contribute to social services and emergency relief projects in the community. Since the inception of these funds, the Institute has made cumulative donations of nearly HK$7,000,000, benefiting over 70 non-governmental organizations and nearly 200 Institute members. The HKIAAT Trust Fund, established by HKIAAT in 1999, also provided financial assistance to its members before it ceased operation.
The consolidated trust carries out the functions of the three previous funds, providing support to social services and emergency relief projects, and financial assistance, in particular, to members facing bereavement, old age, unemployment due to ill-health, or poverty caused by accidents. The trust also plays an important role in supporting education such as awarding scholarships to individuals studying the Qualification Programme offered by the Institute and taking examinations held by the Institute.
Paving the way for future accountants
The Institute hosted more events to engage secondary school students in June and July, including a career seminar with Hong Kong Association for Business Education on 5 July, and a career talk under the “Smart Way Forward” programme for around 30 secondary school BAFS students on 29 June. More details about the Institute’s initiatives to engage secondary school students in the past year are available on the Institute’s website.
Council meeting minutes
The abridged minutes from the April and May 2024 Council meetings are now available on the Institute’s website.
Disciplinary finding
Chan Ho Yin Graham and Chan Suk King
Complaint: Failure or neglect by Mr. Chan to observe, maintain or otherwise apply Hong Kong Standard on Auditing (HKSA) 230 Audit Documentation; HKSA 240 The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements; HKSA 500 Audit Evidence; HKSA 540 Auditing Accounting Estimates, Including Fair Value Accounting Estimates, and Related Disclosures; and HKSA 570 Going Concern. Failure or neglect by Ms. Chan to observe, maintain or otherwise apply HKSA 220 Quality Control for an Audit of Financial Statements.
Graham H.Y. Chan & Co. was subjected to a full-scope practice review which was conducted between August 2019 and May 2020. In reviewing the working papers supporting the audit of the consolidated financial statements of Client A and its subsidiaries for the year ended 31 December 2018, in which Mr. Chan was the audit engagement partner and Ms. Chan was the engagement quality control reviewer, the practice review team identified audit deficiencies in a number of areas which indicated that Mr. Chan and Ms. Chan had failed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the auditor’s opinion expressed.
Decisions and reasons: Mr. Chan and Ms. Chan admitted the complaints against them. The Disciplinary Committee reprimanded Mr. Chan and Ms. Chan and ordered Mr. Chan to pay a penalty of HK$150,000 and costs of the disciplinary proceedings in the sum of HK$78,555; and ordered Ms. Chan to pay a penalty of HK$50,000 and costs of the disciplinary proceedings in the sum of HK$45,233.
Details of the disciplinary findings are available on the Institute’s website.
