Council announcements. Visitors from China and Malaysia. Society News. Notes for Auditors and sample compliance report by auditors.

Transcription

1 Council announcements The Council approved/ratified the following submissions of the Society: The IASB s exposure draft of proposed amendments to IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Disclosure and resentation and IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. The IASB s exposure draft of ED1 First-time Application of International Financial Reporting Standards. The comments on the three Special Independent Auditing Standards (two revised and one exposure draft) and one Independent Auditing ractice Guideline (exposure draft) issued by the Chinese Institute of Certified ublic Accountants. The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong s consultation paper on roposed Amendments to the Listing Rules relating to Initial Listing and Continuing Listing Eligibility and Cancellation of Listing rocedures. The consultation paper on Review of the Role of the Official Receiver s Office. The letter to the Innovation and Technology Commission enclosing the proposed revised otes for Auditors and sample compliance report by auditors. The Council approved the Society s participation as a supporting organisation in the Hong Kong roductivity Council s seminar on RC Taxation System held on 29 ovember The Council approved the sponsorships of the following functions: The Annual CUSA Journal 2002 of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The CUSA Month of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The High Table Dinner of the Hong Kong Inter- Tertiary Accountancy Association. The Dynasty of the Dragon function of the Business Association of the University of Hong Kong. The Business Administration aper Competition of the Hong Kong Federation of Business Students. Visitors from China and Malaysia On 22 ovember 2002, the Society received a delegation from Jilin rovince Institute of Certified ublic Accountants (#) and several accountancy firms in Jilin. The visitors were received on behalf of the Society by aul Chan, chairman of Small and Medium ractitioners Committee, and atrick Tam, director of corporate affairs. Also joining the meeting were representatives from some local accountancy firms. Issues of discussion included the business and mutual cooperation opportunities of the accountancy (From left) Tan Shook Kheng, Beh Tok Koay, Alvin Wong and Georgina Chan. aul Chan (third left) receiving a souvenir from a representative of the Jilin rovince Institute of Certified ublic Accountants. profession in Hong Kong and Jilin. On the same day, the Society also received visitors from the Malaysian Institute of Certified ublic Accountants comprising its president Beh Tok Koay, and executive director Tan Shook Kheng. The then president Alvin Wong and the director of education and training Georgina Chan received the visitors on behalf of the Society. Issues of discussion included the latest developments in the accountancy profession and business environment, as well as the possibility of mutual recognition of the professional accountancy qualifications between the two bodies. JAUARY 2003 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT 7

2 Education & Careers Expo 2003 The Education & Careers Expo 2003 will be held on February 2003 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Expo is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Labour Department. As in previous years, the Society will participate with a booth (number D26) and host career seminars. The Society s exhibition booth will focus on the HKSA Qualification rogramme. Members and registered students are welcome to attend. Obituaries The Society notes with deep regret the passing away of Mr Chu Chung Ming, Miss Chu Wai Fong, Mr oon Hon Kam and Miss oon o Yin, Loletta. ew registrations The Council recently approved the registration of the following firms/corporate practices effective from ovember 2002 and January 2003: Allan Ho & Co Andrew Hung & Co Carmen g & Company Certified ublic Accountants Chan, Ho & artners Eric HK Leung & Co Hua Qin & Co CA KL Lau & Co Kinson CA & Co ame of sole practitioner/ partners Ho Sun Fung, Allan Hung, Andrew George g Lai Man, Carmen Chan Lap Chi Ho ui Ling, Elaine Leung Hung Kee, Eric Lai Chi Kwong Lau Kit Lun Chow Chun Keung Roger Li & Co, Certified ublic Accountants Roswell & Co Stephen Tam & Co Li Yuen Fai, Roger Lo Chak Man Tam Ching Ho, Stephen Stephen YC Siu & Co, Certified Siu Yee Cheong, Stephen ublic Accountants TM Yeung & Co Yeung Tin Ming United CA & Co Fung Kam Yin, Rocina Kwan Yiu Kuen WM Yu & Co Webster g & Co Wilson WY Chung & Company Corporate practice ame of sole practitioner/ partners Yu Wai Man g Kam Wah, Webster Chung Wai Yip, Wilson ame of directors May MW Ho & Co eter Au Yeung & Co L Luk & Company, Certified ublic Accountants oken & Co Certified ublic Accountants Ho Mei Wah, May Au-Yeung Shiu Kau, eter Luk ui Lan Tse o Chu Ho & Chung CA Ltd Chung Ho Shing '() Ho Chi Chu, Charles Katax CA Ltd Chan, Steven Kwok Keung '() Chu ing Hang (on-ractising Member Director) Lo Chan Lau CA Ltd Chan Chi Ho ' Lau Wai Fung Vision CA Ltd Tsui Mei Yuk, Janice ' Wong Sun Keung, Daniel 8 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT JAUARY 2003

3 De-registration of CA practices The Council approved the de-registration of the following CA practices in 2002 and the relevant practice names have been removed from the Society s registers. Albert SF Wong & Co Andrew Ma & Co B oole & Co Bon Hon & Co Burton g & Co Chan & Wu Chiu & oon '() Chow Yee & Co !"# Chui & g Danny Wong & Luk David TK g & Co Eddie KK Lau & Co Frederick Yu & Co Gary Sze and Co Gary WK Yam & Co George Yip & Co Harry Jeu & Co Jesse Leung & Chan Ko & g '() KD & Co Kwan Wong & Co Lai & Fan '( Lam & Chow '()* Lee, Kong & Co Leung o Yee & Co M Sze & Co M Lee & Co Mak & Mak ! "#$%&'() Mankwan Wong & Co Mok & Tse == Shom Chun o & Co Simon Lui & Co Stephen Kwok & Co TY Chan & Co Tam, Wong & Co '()* Thomas So & Co Tyrone Chiu & Co THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT JAUARY 2003

4 W Chan & Co WK Chan & Co Winox YY Chow & Co Yip Yuen & Chan Yiu, Tam & Co == Corporate practice Cheung Ho Lee CA Co Ltd '()* ang, Li CA Co Ltd '() HKAAT news 16th World Congress of Accountants During the 16th World Congress of Accountants, the Association manned a booth next to the HKSA s to disseminate information about our Association. The response from visitors was overwhelming, many were interested in learning more about our Association and the examinations we organise. In addition to the exhibition, some of our board members and committee members also enjoyed an exciting evening at Happy Valley Racecourse. Visitors from UKAAT Jane Scott aul, chief executive, and Clare Morley, director of professional development of the Association of Accounting Technicians in the UK, visited the Secretariat s office on 22 ovember They were received by the HKAAT s Board members George Ho, Dennis Chung, William Chan, James Kong, David Tam, Joseph YK Yau, and the Association s secretary general, Christine Liu. During the meeting, the guests were briefed on the Association and its Accounting Technician Examinations as well as the newly launched rofessional Bridging Examinations. Mutual co-operation between the two Associations was also discussed. W Y Yu (right) and the finalists. Football contest The final match of the HKSA Football Competition 2002 was held on 7 December 2002 at the Junction Road ark. The match was played between teams Accountancy Graduates Association, HK olyu and United. Congratulations go to United who won with a score of 3 1. Fourteen member teams and 10 member practice teams took part in the competition that began on 26 October. Thirty-one exciting league and knockout matches were held over seven weekends. WY Yu, assistant director (corporate affairs membership), presented a cup donated by Charles Mar Fan & Co, as well as trophies and medals, to the winners at the closing ceremony. 12 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT JAUARY 2003

5 Revision courses for C candidates The Society will offer revision courses for candidates sitting the Society s ractising Certificate (C) Examinations in May The Hong Kong Baptist University is planning to offer four revision courses (two for C Law, and two for C Tax lanning) in early March Each course comprises 21 class hours divided into seven three-hour sessions. The enrolment fee is HK$1,110 per course. The course schedule is given below. The deadline for application is 17 February Enrolment is on a firstcome, first-served basis. otes to applicants Course fee HK$1,110 per subject 1. Separate cheques should be used per subject entry. 2. All cheques should be made payable to HOG KOG SOCIETY OF ACCOUTATS. 3. Cheques will be deposited in the bank after the enrolment confirmation slip is issued. Cheques will be returned to those applicants whose applications are not successful. Application form 1. Applicants must use the enrolment form enclosed in this Journal. Applications without a completed enrolment form will not be processed. 2. Each applicant should submit only OE enrolment form for the course(s) they wish to enrol in. 3. Once the application is submitted, no withdrawal of application or refund of course fee will be entertained unless the application is rejected due to course over-subscription or cancellation. Alteration to the choice of the course/class is not allowed. Application All applications must reach the Society s office by post on or before Monday, 17 February Deadline 1. Applications which are submitted in person will be post-dated by two working days for processing purposes. 2. Reservations will not be accepted. 3. Incomplete applications will not be processed. otification 1. All applicants will be notified of their application status before Wednesday, 26 February Applicants should call the Society s Education & Training Department ( or ) on Friday, 28 February 2003 if they have not received any notification about their enrolment. Subject Lecturer Time and date Venue C Law Alex Lau Wednesdays, 6:30 pm 9:30 pm The Wing Lung Bank Building for Business Studies, (Class A) 12, 19, 26 March; Shaw Campus, 9, 16, 23, 30 April 2003 Hong Kong Baptist University, 34 Renfrew Road, C Law Alex Lau Fridays, 6:30 pm 9:30 pm Kowloon Tong, (Class B) 7, 14, 21, 28 March; Kowloon 11, 25 April; 2 May 2003 C Tax lanning atrick Ho Saturdays, 2:30 pm 5:30 pm (Class A) 8, 15, 22, 29 March; 12, 26 April; 3 May 2003 C Tax lanning Daniel Ho Tuesdays, 6:30 pm 9:30 pm (Class B) 11, 18, 25 March; 1, 8, 15, 29 April 2003 ublic service appointments Marvin Cheung, SBS, J ( ) has been appointed the chairman of the Estate Agents Authority for one year with effect from 1 ovember Dr David Li, GBS, J ( ) has been reappointed a member of the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee for two years with effect from 1 October Kevin Law ( ) and Cecilia Lee ( ) have been appointed members of the Town lanning Appeal Board panel for two years with effect from 1 October Desmond Chan ( ), hilip Hilliard ( ), aul Tan ( ) and Anthony Tyen ( ) have been re-appointed members of the panel to the Occupational Retirement Schemes Appeal Board for two years with effect from 1 October Daniel Wan ( ) has been appointed a member of the Travel Industry Compensation Fund Management Board for two years with effect from 15 October Larry Kwok ( ) has been appointed a panel member of the Telecommunications (Competition rovisions) Appeal Board for two years with effect from 1 ovember Fanny Lai (!) has been appointed a member of the General Committee of the Hong Kong hilharmonic Society for one year with effect from 1 ovember Marcellus Wong ( ) has been re-appointed a member of the Copyright Tribunal for two years with effect from 1 January JAUARY 2003 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT 13

6 The new president David Sun (centre) together with new vicepresidents Roger Best (left) and aul Chan. The Society s 30th AGM was held on 13 December 2002 at the Conrad Hong Kong. During the meeting, the Council for 2002, led by the immediate past president Alvin Wong, reported on the work carried out by the Society over the past year, including the EGM on rebranding, the 16th World Congress of Accountants, and the signing of Reciprocal Membership Agreements with six prestigious chartered accountancy institutes. The new president David Sun talks about the Society s future directions at the press conference held after the AGM. ew president and Council elected for 2003 The election results for the 2003 Council were also announced. At a special Council meeting held immediately after the AGM, the Council elected David Sun as president of the Society for 2003, and Roger Best and aul Chan as vice-presidents. Mr Sun is a fellow member of the Society and a partner of Ernst & Young. He was first elected to the Council in December 1997 and served as vice-president in 2001 and In the last five years, he has been chairman or member of a number of committees and working groups, including the Accounting Standards Advisory anel, Administration and Finance Committee, Advisory Committee for Banking, Advisory Committee on Listing and Takeover Regulations, Auditing & Assurance Standards Committee (formerly known as Auditing Standards Committee), Corporate Governance Committee, Ethics Committee, Expert anel on Securities (formerly known as Advisory Committee for Securities Intermediaries), Members Innovation & Technology Committee, Securities Industry Committee, Standard-setting Steering Board, Accountants Report Task Force, International Recognition Task Force, Organising Committee of World Congress of Accountants 2002, Standardsetting Strategy Review Task Force, Statutory Immunity for Auditors Working Group, Task Force on Corporate Failures and Task Force to Review Council Election Matters. Vice-president Roger Best is a fellow member of the Society and a partner of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He was first elected to the Council in December 1994 and served as vice-president in 1998, 1999 and In the last five years, he has been chairman or member of a number of committees and working groups, including the Accountancy Accreditation Board, Accounting Standards Advisory anel, Communications Advisory anel, Financial Accounting Standards Committee, Insolvency ractitioners Committee, rofessional Standards Monitoring Committee, Registration and ractising Committee, Standard-setting Steering Board, Fourth Long Range lan Working Group, International Recognition Task Force, Joint Government/HKSA Companies Ordinance Review Working Group, Membership Review Task Force, ractical Experience Task Force, Standard-setting Strategy Review Task Force, Statutory Immunity for Auditors Working Group and Task Force on Corporate Failures. Vice-president aul Chan is a fellow member of the Society and is a senior partner of aul Chan & artners. He was first co-opted in 1999 and then elected to the Council in December In the last five years, he has been chairman or member of a number of committees and working groups, including the Expert anel on Insolvency, Expert anel on Legal Matters, Financial Accounting Standards Committee, 14 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT JAUARY 2003

7 Composition of the Council 2003 Elected members David Sun (resident) *Roger Best (Vice-resident) *aul Chan (Vice-resident) Michael Chan Stella Cho Mark Fong Andy Lee Kennedy Liu *Doug Oxley *Carlson Tong #Judy Tsui *Alvin Wong Co-opted members Edward Chow Wilson Fung Ex-officio members The Honourable Financial Secretary or his representative The Director of Accounting Services or his representative Registrar and Lee Kai-fat Secretary-General * re-elected member to serve on the Council for two years # newly elected member to serve on the Council for two years practising member non-practising member Council election result Candidates for the 2003 Council election o. of votes Au Siu Cheung, Albert 481 Roger Best 2,493 aul Chan 1,424 Chan o Fun, eter 464 SY Choi 479 Edward Chow 1,030 Wilson Fung 884 Kwok Kai Bun, Benny 249 Doug Oxley 1,470 ang Tsun Loy, Michael 605 Carlson Tong 1,168 Judy Tsui 1,817 Alvin Wong 1,415 Insolvency ractitioners Committee, Legal Committee, Mainland Affairs Committee, R Strategy Steering Committee, Small and Medium ractitioners Committee (formerly known as Smaller ractitioners Committee), Taxation Committee, Fourth Long Range lan Working Group, GAA for Small Businesses Working Group, Membership eeds Survey Task Force, Membership Review Task Force and Statutory Accounting and Disclosure Requirements Working Group. He also represents the Council on IFAC s Small and Medium ractice Task Force and IASB s Advisory anel on Financial Reporting by SMEs. The other elected members of the 2003 Council are Doug Oxley, Carlson Tong, Judy Tsui and Alvin Wong. HKSA proposals for the 2003 Budget The Society held a press conference on 10 December 2002 to announce its submission of a set of proposals for the 2003 Budget to the Financial Secretary entitled Balancing the Equation Achieving Fiscal Equilibrium and a Fairer Society. The submission stressed the need for the Government to be proactive in tackling the deficit while trying to improve the local economy and to explore ways to make Hong Kong a more attractive place for investment. The press conference was attended by 20 news organisations and was widely reported in the media. Tim Lui briefing the media on the Society s proposals for the 2003 Budget. At the press conference, Tim Lui, chairman of the Taxation Committee and Deborah Annells, convenor of the Budget roposals Sub-Committee, explained that the Society s proposals include possible measures for broadening the tax base, in particular, the introduction of a broad-based consumption tax or goods and services tax (GST) at an appropriate time, and reducing the level of personal allowances and deductions by per cent. Such a measure would not be unreasonable given the substantial increase in allowances over and above the increase in the consumer price index during the past eight to 10 years, Mr Lui added. The proposals also included some immediate remedial measures such as the introduction of a temporary surcharge on profits, salaries and property taxpayers, increasing the level of rates and government fees and charges on the basis of the user pays principle. To enhance Hong Kong s competitiveness and to encourage more employment, the Society also proposed to the Financial Secretary the introduction of tax incentives such as concessions for regional headquarters/offices providing management and consultancy services to related companies; group relief and other loss-related concessions; a more flexible approach to apportionment in relation to processing arrangements in the Mainland; and concessions to encourage the use of Hong Kong as a centre for intellectual property licensing and development. Although this may not be the time for expansionary fiscal policies, we believe that the Government must not lose sight of the fact that Hong Kong has to remain competitive if it is to be the destination of choice for investors seeking a base for doing business in the Mainland and elsewhere in this region, said Ms Annells. The employment-related measures proposed include incentives for employers to take on workers who have been unemployed for a certain period and an increase in the expenses allowed to be deducted for self-education, coupled with an extended time-period for claiming back such expenses. For the full text of the proposals, please refer to the What s ew section on the Society s website. JAUARY 2003 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT 15

8 resident s engagement On behalf of the Society, the immediate past president Alvin Wong attended the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong s 30th anniversary dinner on 7 December Group photo of CAA CAA meeting The Confederation of Asian and acific Accountants (CAA) held its Executive Committee meeting on 22 ovember 2002 in Hong Kong after the 16th World Congress of Accountants. On behalf of the Society, Council member Doug Oxley (fourth left), past president M Kam (second right) and the registrar and secretary-general Lee Kai-fat (first left) attended the meeting. Established in 1976, CAA aims to provide leadership in the development, enhancement and coordination of the accountancy profession in the Asia-acific region to enable the profession to provide services of consistently high quality in the public interest. Currently, CAA has a membership of 31 accountancy organisations in 21 countries including the HKSA and the Hong Kong Association of Accounting Technicians. Statistics update As of 12 December 2002, the Society s statistics were as follows: 20,069 Members 3,132 ractising Certificate Holders 1,073 s 118 Corporate ractices 16 THE HOG KOG ACCOUTAT JAUARY 2003