News

Issue no. 232 (28 November 2008)

Dear Members / Member Practices,

Institute and accounting news

Vote for the new councilCast your votes by 9 Dec. to elect seven new members to the council. Your participation will elect a council that can best serve the profession. You should have received the ballot package and you can vote in paper format or online but not both.

Corporate governance awards

Judges of the Best Corporate Governance Disclosure Awards were disappointed with the mediocre standard of disclosures by GEM and recently-listed companies but encouraged by improvement in the standards of mainland banks. The awards were presented on 21 Nov. at JW Marriott. Click here to view photos, here for the press release and list of awardees, and here for the judges' report.

FSIG year-end cocktail

A year-end cocktail of the financial services interest group will take place on 10 Dec. to review the financial crisis and its implications for the profession. Prof. Kalok Chan of HKUST is the speaker. All members are welcome and admission is free. +

Financial sector governance

Hong Kong ICAC, the PRC Ministry of Supervision and the Commission Against Corruption Macao are organizing a conference on financial sector corporate governance. It will be held on 8 Dec. at Conrad Hong Kong and participants will get 5.5 CPD hours. +

ET discounts

HKET.com (香港經濟日報網站) is offering members a special subscription package at $250 per year, compared with regular rates of $350. +

Member services

Running winners

Click photo to enlarge

The Institute's team won the 1st runner-up in the invitational 4x100M relay of the Hong Kong Medical Association on 23 Nov. +

Cross-border match

Come cheer for the Institute's teams and those from the Guangzhou and Shenzhen institutes of CPAs at the friendly football match on 6 Dec. (4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) and 7 Dec. (9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) at Tai Po Kwong Fok Park soccer pitch. Free coach transportation from Kowloon to Tai Po will be provided. +

CPA soccer

The annual CPA football competition will be held in January and February 2009. +

Click here to see the at-a-glance calendar for more member activities.

	International news

APEC commits to quick economic action

Leaders at the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum promised fast and decisive action to prevent a severe global economic downturn. They said free trade and higher government spending could help resolve the crisis, Reuters.com reports. +

Public sector performance measurement

IFAC's Professional Accountants in Business Committee has issued an information paper, Developments in Performance Measurement Structures in Public Sector Entities, to assist PAIBs and those in the public sector raise their companies' accountability. +

Tech update

IAASB releases clarity project update

The IAASB has released a clarity project update to assist auditors in ensuring audits are done according to the clarified International Standards on Auditing, once they are in effect. +

Fair value measurement

KPMG has published IFRS Briefing Sheet to summarize guidance about the IASB Expert Advisory Panel's report on fair value measurement when markets become inactive. +

2008 IFRS update

An overview of the changes in IFRSs is available from Ernst & Young's 2008 IFRS Update. +

Hong Kong tax

PwC has published a news flash on "Reclassification of Financial Assets - What does it Mean for Tax?" +

CPD

Auditor's responsibilities

The popular topic "HKSA 240 - The Auditor's Responsibilities to Consider Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements" in the annual auditing conference will be re-run on 11 Dec. About 500 people attended the annual conference on 15 Nov. and you can see photos here.

Work-life balance seminar

This is the last call to enrol in the work-life balance seminar on 15 Dec. to discover five secrets of a more effective life. +

E-learning

New e-learning courses for Chinese business law are available at Open University of Hong Kong. +

CPD exemption

You can write to the Institute to apply for CPD exemption, which will only be granted under special circumstances, such as career breaks, serious illness or retirement. Please apply by 15 Dec. Please click here for statement 1.500.

To enrol in CPD programmes, please click here.


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