************************************************************
Following is the speech by the Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services), Miss Au King-chi, at the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) Award and Graduation Ceremony 2010 today (September 24):
Wilson (Fung), distinguished guests, new graduates, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you today to celebrate this important milestone, and to share your joy and excitement as you start your career as a professional accountant. To all graduates, and especially to the award winners, my warmest congratulations!
No doubt, you will have had some time to reflect on this noble profession and what it means to be an accountant.
If not, allow me to share with you a definition that I recently came across, and I quote: "An accountant is someone who solves a problem you did not know you had in a way you don't understand". End quote.
This embodies the qualities that an accountant requires - intelligence, diligence, an acute ability for problem solving and - above all, a great sense of humour.
Joking aside, a good accountant must keep up-to-date with latest developments in the industry from both local and global perspectives. They must remain vigilant, determined and courageous to meet everyday challenges. And most important, accountants must be prepared to perform their duties with integrity in order to protect public interest.
A robust and transparent accounting sector is the backbone of any market economy, especially for a highly sophisticated economy such as ours. We depend on our professional talent to deliver high quality financial services.
As an international financial centre, Hong Kong prides itself on its superior capital formation capabilities with a wide range of products and services that meet the needs of both local and international investors. Our stock exchange is the third largest in Asia by market capitalisation. We also ranked number one in the world for total IPO funds raised in 2009.
Hong Kong is also among the largest asset management centres and loan syndication centres in the region.
All these point to bright prospects for accountants in Hong Kong. According to the 2009 Manpower Survey Report on Accountancy, there was an almost 30% increase in the number of management and partnership positions in accounting firms in 2009 compared to 2007.
About two-thirds of our accountants work in the commercial and services sectors, with nearly 20% serving as managers or senior managers in their companies, including appointments to prominent leadership positions, such as CEOs and CFOs.
Some accounting professionals have opted to take on the mantel of teaching. Others are active in public and community service, including serving on Government advisory and statutory bodies, which draw heavily on talents from the accounting sector for their professional input.
Given the scale, strength and vibrancy of our financial and commercial sectors, we require an exceptional pool of accounting talent to provide the necessary support, and help propel our economy forward.
Accountants play an indispensable role at each and every stage of business development and capital formation, rendering essential services for individuals as well as for businesses.
Private individuals benefit from accountants' expertise in the areas of tax advice, estate planning, investment advice and so on. Start-up companies and SMEs rely on accountants for bookkeeping, auditing services and internal company controls, which generally help them maintain their company's financial health and manage its growth.
For companies ready to transit from private business undertakings to public holdings, accountants prepare their company's financial statements and investors rely on the auditors' opinions.
The key to a company's successful listing is clear, accurate and complete information to facilitate informed decisions by the company and by the investors. And after listing, the company continues to rely on accountants to prepare its financial statements for timely and accurate disclosure.
In short, accountants are an integral part of the smooth functioning of our economy. The enormity of your responsibilities in upholding the framework for businesses, managing market risk and safeguarding our financial system, calls for the highest standards in professionalism and ethics. I have no doubt that you will all be up to the challenge.
You are joining your esteemed senior colleagues at a very challenging yet promising moment. Having weathered the financial tsunami, global markets are especially alert and committed to reinforcing the regulatory infrastructure. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong is no exception. The Government and market regulators are pursuing a series of reform initiatives to further improve our market integrity and international competitiveness.
This includes strengthening controls on the sales conduct of financial intermediaries, introducing statutory requirements for listed companies to disclose price sensitive information, pursuing a scripless securities market and improving the offering regime for structured products. In parallel, we are reinforcing our financial market safety nets by increasing the level of bank deposit protection, and establishing a protection fund for insurance policyholders.
At the same time, we are re-writing the Companies Ordinance to provide Hong Kong with a modernised legal infrastructure attuned to our needs in the 21st century as an international financial centre. Accounting and auditing matters form a key component of the new Companies Bill. Let me cite some of the relevant changes -
First, strengthening auditors' rights to obtain information for performing their duties;
Second, relaxing the qualifying criteria for companies to prepare simplified financial and directors reports;
Third, providing auditors with qualified privilege in the course of performing their duties; and
Fourth, introducing new provisions to enhance the integrity of auditor's reports.
We are in the final stage of touching up the Companies Bill for introduction into the Legislative Council. It will probably be the longest Bill ever introduced into our legislature, carrying around 1,000 clauses.
Ladies and gentlemen, the global financial tsunami has shifted the centre of economic gravity from the West to the East and especially towards Mainland China. While we are enhancing our financial infrastructure, we are simultaneously looking beyond our borders for opportunities. One of Hong Kong's greatest strengths, and one that gives us a unique edge over other competing economies, is our special position not only in our own country, but also in the world under "One Country, Two Systems". As China's global financial centre, Hong Kong is the ideal testing ground for Mainland's financial reforms. Together with relevant Mainland authorities, we are identifying ways to best serve our country's development needs in pursuing all these reforms, including the internationalisation of RMB.
Hong Kong now offers a wide range of RMB-denominated financial services such as deposit-taking, remittance, cheque, credit cards, bonds and trade settlement services. We are the first place outside the Mainland that has developed a RMB bond market.
With our robust foundation and international DNA, we are well placed to further develop ourselves as an offshore RMB centre. Our regulators, our infrastructure and our financial intermediaries are ready to bring Hong Kong to the next level of RMB activities with appropriate risk management measures. We look forward to the introduction of new RMB products and services, with the further opening up of channels for a healthy flow of RMB to invest in Hong Kong and the Mainland.
As accountants, your expertise will be in demand with the increase in financial products and services and transaction volume that comes with our expanding market. I encourage you to keep abreast of developments in the Mainland and prepare for opportunities available to Hong Kong in serving our country's interest in its economic transformation.
In times of change and opportunity, there is an even greater need for our accountants to adhere to the core values and ethics of your chosen profession, to perform your duties as the gatekeeper of our financial system, and to guard staunchly against irregularities and any other threats that could jeopardise the financial integrity of our markets.
Hong Kong has evolved from modest origins to its current status as a world financial hub and as China's global financial centre, by winning the confidence of market participants, including investors. They know that their interests in Hong Kong are well protected by our rule of law, our regulatory system which is on a par with international standards, and our pool of quality financial professionals.
This evening, we congratulate graduates on obtaining the prestigious title of CPA, and we celebrate this milestone in their careers. With the Institute's rigorous Qualification Programme under your belts, I wish all graduates rewarding careers and every success in delivering accountancy services of the highest standard.
Thank you very much.
Ends/Friday, September 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:13
NNNN
