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Appointments to Financial Reporting Council
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    The Government announced today (November 30) the appointments made by the Chief Executive to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which is a new statutory body to investigate audit irregularities and accounting non-compliances of listed companies in Hong Kong.

     The appointments of the FRC are:

Chairman:  
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Ms Sophia Kao, JP

Members:
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Mr Moses Cheng, GBS, JP;
Mr Mark Dickens, JP;
Mr Martin Hadaway;
Mr Kam Pok-man;
Hon Mrs Sophie Leung, SBS, JP;
Mr Vernon Moore; and
Prof Judy Tsui.  

     The appointments are for a term of three years, and will be gazetted and take effect tomorrow (December 1).

     Announcing the appointments today (November 30), the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, said, "The FRC is an important initiative to enhance the regulation of the accounting profession and corporate governance of companies listed in Hong Kong.

     "We are confident that, under the guidance of Ms Kao and other Council members, the inaugural FRC will lay a robust foundation for discharging its investigatory functions.

     "The establishment of the FRC will reinforce Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre," Mr Ma added.

     The Legislative Council enacted the Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (FRCO) on July 13, 2006, providing the statutory basis for establishing the FRC. Under the FRCO, the FRC is to comprise a maximum of 11 members, including two ex-officio members and other members appointed by the Chief Executive.  

     The two ex-officio members are the Registrar of Companies and the Chief Executive Officer of the FRC. Three members of the FRC are appointed by the Chief Executive on the nomination of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) respectively.

     The FRCO further provides that a majority of members (including the non-executive Chairman) of the FRC shall be "lay persons", i.e., non-accountants.  

     "An open recruitment exercise for the CEO post of the FRC has already been launched. The appointment of the CEO will be made and announced once the recruitment procedures are completed," a government spokesman said.

     The FRC is expected to be in operation by early 2007.  

     Following are the brief biographical notes on the appointees :

(1)  Ms Sophia Kao, JP

     Ms Kao possesses rich experience in human resources management, and was a lay member of the Council of the HKICPA from December 2004 to November 2006. She is now the Chairman of the Women's Commission.  
 
(2)  Mr Moses Cheng, GBS, JP  (appointed on nomination of HKEx)

     Mr Cheng is the senior partner of PC Woo & Co. He is a director of HKEx and had extensive experience in the Listing Committee of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.  

(3)  Mr Mark Dickens, JP  (appointed on nomination of SFC)

     Mr Dickens has extensive experience in regulation of securities and futures markets, and was previously an executive director of the SFC from January 1997 to March 2005.  

(4)  Mr Martin Hadaway

     Mr Hadaway is formerly the Chief Executive and currently Consultant of Gammon Construction Limited. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and a member of the Vocational Training Council.  

(5)  Mr Kam Pok-man (appointed on nomination of HKICPA)

     Mr Kam is the Group Financial Controller of Jardine Matheson Limited. He was the President of the then Hong Kong Society of Accountants (now renamed HKICPA) in 1999 and 2000, and is now a member of the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board.

(6)  Hon Mrs Sophie Leung, SBS, JP

     Mrs Leung is a member of the Legislative Council representing the Textile and Garment constituency.  

(7)  Mr Vernon Moore

     Mr Moore is a certified public accountant and an executive director of CITIC Pacific Limited.    

(8)  Prof Judy Tsui
 
     Prof Tsui is Dean of the Faculty of Business at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and has published widely on corporate governance. She was a Council member of the then Hong Kong Society of Accountants from December 2001 to December 2004.  

Ends/Thursday, November 30, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:55

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