It has been some time since I wrote to you about our recognition of overseas accounting bodies. The Council wished to wait until the discussions had yielded concrete results to share with you.

Last year, in order to unify the standard of membership admission to the Inititute, the Institute announced that all automatic recognition granted to overseas bodies for membership of the Institute would end on 30 June, 2005 and be replaced by a process of evaluation before recognition. 

CPA Australia was the first body to embrace the Institute's new evaluation process. After nearly a year of discussions, we will sign a new mutual recognition agreement with CPA Australia at a signing ceremony in Hong Kong at 11:30 a.m. today. Please click here to see the press release we will issue at that time.

The new agreement with CPA Australia applies to all CPA Australia students who registered with CPA Australia on or after 16 August 2004 and all Hong Kong Institute of CPA students who registered for the Institute's CPA QP on or after 1 July 2005.

Under the new agreement, CPA Australia students who want to join the Institute need to meet the following conditions:

	hold an accredited or recognised degree from an Australian university
	pass the Australian CPA Program, including three compulsory core subjects and three elective subjects mandated by the agreement, and complete workshops in any one segment of the Australian CPA Program or workshops in any CPA qualification programme module of the Institute
	meet the Institute's practical experience requirements under the Institute's authorised employer / authorised supervisor training scheme
	pass the Institute's aptitude test in Hong Kong Law and Tax or equivalent

Students of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs who wish to join CPA Australia need to meet the following conditions:

	hold an accredited or recognised university degree
	pass the Institute's CPA Qualification Programme
	meet the Institute's practical training requirements as recognised by CPA Australia

CPA Australia students who registered before 16 August 2004 are subject to the transitional provisions of the old agreement that allow them until 30 June 2007 to complete their examinations and apply for membership in the Institute under the old terms.

Another piece of good news is our progress in talks with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Until the 30th June 2005 , CIMA members, who have completed the Institute's Aptitude Tests and other admission requirements, are eligible for full exemption from the professional examination requirement for membership of the Institute. This full exemption route to the Institute's membership ends on 30 June 2005 . CIMA members who have not taken the advantage of this offer are encouraged to do so immediately.

The unilateral recognition of CIMA members ends on the 30 June deadline . However, for the past year, we have been looking for a way to recognise each other's qualifications for mutual membership.

The route we are pursuing is mutual examination paper exemptions, which will allow a member of one body to become a member of the other after 30 June 2005 . We expect the review will be completed during the next few months and we hope to make an announcement before the end of October. Please click here to see the joint letter for CIMA and Institute members.

I will write again soon to tell you of the rapid developments in overseas recognition as the 30 June deadline approaches.

With warmest regards,

Winnie C.W. Cheung
Chief Executive & Registrar