Issue no.14
(20 October 2004)
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      To: All HKICPA Members, Member Practices, Students and other Stakeholders
In this issue
(i) Update on Members' Forum 6 October 2004
   
(ii)   Update on HKICPA/ACCA discussions



Our Ref.: C/IRTF(G), M/NC
20 October 2004
Letter from the HKICPA President

Dear Member,

Re: (i) Update on Members' Forum 6 October 2004
  (ii) Update on HKICPA/ACCA discussions  

I am writing to you to communicate a little more about our dialogue with ACCA. This is not a report on our discussions concerning transitional provisions for ACCA students ¡V those are currently in progress - it is an attempt to respond to some issues raised at our recent Members' Forum.

Firstly, let me say that I thought that the Forum was extremely worthwhile. Approximately 130 members attended and a wide range of views were expressed. We will be posting the presentations made by Winnie Cheung, our Chief Executive and Registrar, and by Georgina Chan, our Director, Education and Training, on our website soon for all of our members to see. I would encourage all of you who have an interest in what the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs is trying to achieve for the profession in Hong Kong to go to the website and view the presentations.

One message that I received from the meeting was that a number of ACCA members in Hong Kong feel that, by asking for an evaluation of the ACCA qualification before renewing our Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with them, we were somehow belittling the ACCA qualification. This is not correct and I apologise unreservedly if some members received this impression.

The ACCA qualification is highly respected in Hong Kong and throughout the world and the Institute has always acknowledged the value our members who are ACCA members have brought to the development of the profession over the years.

The evaluation requirement is only about ensuring uniformity and consistency, nothing else, and the benchmark is the QP.

When the current Council's predecessors started down the road of developing our own QP, they recognised that there was a need for Hong Kong's accountants to have competencies appropriate to the challenges facing Hong Kong. They also recognised the need for Hong Kong to establish its own benchmarks for standards. Given Hong Kong's current development, and that of the Mainland, this is even truer today than it was back in the early 1990's.

Having said that, the Council members did not predetermine that they would invite chartered bodies to work with us to develop our programme. A completely independent consultant, Emeritus Professor Athol Carrington, developed the overall framework for the QP. We then went through a long tendering process to find partners to assist us in the detailed implementation, and received tenders from 10 overseas and local applicants. We ultimately chose to work with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants in New Zealand and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu consortium. One of the issues that had been identified early on in the whole process was the need for the QP to be recognised internationally so that it would be attractive to students. One of the attractions of the ICA Australia/ICA New Zealand/DTT proposal was that, on a best efforts basis, ICA Australia and ICA New Zealand undertook to work with us, once we had fully implemented the scheme, to obtain recognition by the chartered bodies internationally. I am confident that you will appreciate how attractive this offer was, given the opportunity for our qualification to be recognised by 7 different countries.

These are the historical reasons for the connections with the chartered bodies; there are no other, hidden reasons. Throughout, the Institute has been acting on behalf of members and students and the best interests of both. By signing Reciprocal Membership Agreements (RMAs) with the chartered bodies, the Institute gave future members more choices rather than less. By signing the recent agreement with ICAEW we have provided many of our existing members with more choices rather than less, and have gained access to products that will also be of benefit to members.

In addition, by signing the mutual examination papers exemptions with the PRC Ministry of Finance and Chinese Institute of CPAs, we are building more opportunities for integration and interaction between Hong Kong CPAs and Mainland CPAs on the Mainland, which as we all know is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

There is one other matter that I want to touch upon. The Institute and the ACCA ¡V both respected and reputable bodies - have been engaged in a genuine debate about what is best for Hong Kong. Debates frequently ignite emotions, but I trust that we shall all keep the debate at a proper and professional level and not reduce it to the personal level.

Within this month, we should have arrived at suitable transition arrangements for ACCA and CPA Australia students who will be affected when the MRAs end in June 2005. The Institute is looking forward to sharing these with you.

Yours sincerely,


ROGER BEST
PRESIDENT
HONG KONG INSTITUTE OF
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS