Legal and Accounting
Accounting professionals play a crucial role not only in the financial and risk management of a company, but also corporate governance and the overall development of organisation. Moreover, they have an overriding duty to protect the public interest. Given this unique role, professional accountants must uphold the highest standard of professional ethics and stay vigilant to various ethical risks and challenges.
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre offers free anti-corruption and ethics trainings to help accounting practitioners stay alert to corruption risks and uphold high integrity standards. We also provide free services and useful resources to help accounting firms guard against corruption and foster an ethical culture.
Corruption Risks
Examples:
- External auditors accept advantages from clients for turning a blind eye to the irregularities and exceptions identified during audit.
- External auditors accept advantages from clients for reducing the sample size for vouching without justification.
- External auditors accept advantages from clients for freezing audit fee.
Examples:
- Internal auditors accept advantages from colleagues for turning a blind eye to non-compliances.
- Financial accountants accept advantages from colleagues for processing claims with missing, insufficient or even fraudulent supporting documents.
- Management accountants accept advantages from outside parties for disclosing price-sensitive confidential information of his listed company.
What is Conflict of Interest?
Examples:
- Professional Accountants in Public Practice accept lavish or frequent meals and other entertainment during the course of audit.
- Professional Accountants in Public Practice accept part-time employment offers from existing clients.
- Professional Accountants in Business procure services or products from companies which are owned by their family members or close friends.
- Professional Accountants in Business disclose price-sensitive information of their publicly listed employers to friends/relatives before public announcement.
- Professional Accountants in Business approve certain company investments in which they have personal financial interests.
Ethics Training
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) offers free anti-corruption and ethics training to help companies build an ethical corporate culture and prevent corruption and fraud.
Training Objectives
Training Objectives
Training Objectives
Contact us if your company is interested in arranging anti-corruption or ethics training
Members of professional bodies may obtain continuing professional development (CPD) hours by attending seminars offered by the HKBEDC.
The following professional bodies have arranged CPD seminars jointly with the HKBEDC:
- Accounting Development Foundation
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Hong Kong Chapter
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Hong Kong
- Association of Chinese Internal Auditors
- Association of Hong Kong Accountants
- Association of International Accountants (Hong Kong Branch)
- Association of Women Accountants (Hong Kong)
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (Hong Kong Division)
- CPA Australia
- CPA Canada (Hong Kong Chapter)
- Hong Kong Business Accountants Association
- Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (Hong Kong Branch)
- The Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors
- The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong
Click here to see our upcoming CPD seminars for accounting professionals.
Resources
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre publishes a wide variety of resources for use by the accounting profession as reference and training tools for enhancing ethical management and professional integrity.
