Dear member and student,
Further to my last e-mail alert to you on 1 June 2012 regarding Clause 399 of the Companies Bill, which would introduce criminal sanctions on auditors, many members and firms -- large and small -- have voiced their concerns to the Institute.
The bill is its final stage of being passed at LegCo and as a last effort to seek for removal of this clause and its significant harmful effect on the profession, we have prepared a third submission to the LegCo Bills Committee and the government administration. We have also issued a media release to explain to the public why this clause would be damaging to the profession and should be deferred.
You may have seen newspaper stories on the topic, which have appeared in the South China Morning Post and The Hong Kong Economic Journal. The Democratic Accountants have also sent a submission to the government and issued a media release.
We are working hard to stop the Legislative Council from enacting this clause into the Companies Amendment Bill and I will update you as soon as we have news to report.
Sincere regards,
Winnie C.W. Cheung
Chief Executive
Hong Kong Institute of CPAs
CPA: The Success Ingredient