The latest issue of the ICAC Post highlights the ICAC's commitment to promoting business ethics through the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC). Supported by its close work partners, HKBEDC successfully hosted its 25^th Anniversary livestreaming event and jointly organised a few ethics promotion activities with member chambers of the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Advisory Committee in recent months.

Joining hands with the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong (CMA), HKBEDC arranged a visit to the CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories for a group of business students from the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Senior management of the company introduced their corruption prevention measures and shared with the students the company's commitment and experience in practicising business ethics.
	The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce arranged a visit to the ICAC for its Young Executives Club's members who had a meaningful exchange on business ethics with the Director of Community Relations of ICAC and the Executive Director of HKBEDC.

The 41^st Issue of ICAC Post also explains the role of ICAC in upholding and promoting the rule of law and introduces the anti-corruption information tailor-made for people of diverse race. Please click here to read the full version.

The Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association (HKiNEDA) is going to organise an Annual Conference 2020 on 12 December 2020 to provide an international communication platform for the excellent directors and senior management from the Greater China.  Event details as follow:

As a supporting organisation of the conference, HKBEDC encourages you to join this event online.  For enquiries, please contact Ms. Joanna Cheung of HKiNEDA on 2593 9616 or at info@hkineda.com.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has been jointly organising thematic seminars with various professional bodies and trade organisations to promote good governance and professional ethics in the business sector.  Some major seminars conducting in November and December include the following: 

For enquiries, please contact the above co-organisers directly, or call the HKBEDC hotline at 2826-3288.

In recent years, ICAC received complaints about con men posing as ICAC officers in deception cases. Overseas Chinese and local Hong Kong citizens alike fell prey to these scams.  

In these cases, victims were often told that they were suspects of some unlawful activities (e.g. corruption, fraud and/or money laundering), had earned a great deal from investments or had won a lottery.  Whatever the pretexts, the victims would be asked to remit money for certain purposes.  The money would then be withdrawn soon after remittance and the imposters disappeared into thin air.

Bear in mind that ICAC would never demand deposit or money, or ask anybody to remit or transfer money to any bank account for investigative purposes.  If you encounter similar situation or have any queries, immediately call the ICAC 24-hour Report Corruption Hotline (852) 25 266 366.

Stay alert and click here to learn more about the tricks used by fraudsters!

The Directors' Symposium 2020 organised by HKIoD will be held on 27 October.  The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre is glad to be invited by HKIoD again as a supporting organisation of this annual event.

The theme of the Directors' Symposium 2020 is “Vanguard in Challenging Times”. Company directors, decision-makers and senior officers of diverse enterprises are encouraged to participate.  Details are as follows:

Please visit the event website for registration and more details.  For enquiries, please call HKIoD at 2889-4988 or email to symposium@hkiod.com.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has been jointly organising thematic seminars with various professional bodies and trade organisations to promote good governance and professional ethics in the business sector.  Here are some of the seminars to be conducted in October: 

For enquiries, please contact the above co-organisers directly, or call the HKBEDC hotline at 2826-3288.

Due to the stepping up of international efforts in combating illegal activities including money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion in recent years, banks have to take enhanced control measures including a more stringent customer due diligence process to mitigate the potential risks for new customers.  As a result, the account opening process is more complex and requires longer time.

Although opening a bank account is essential to business operations, business operators must not offer advantages (including money or gifts) to bank staff for the latter's approving or expediting the account opening application, otherwise both the business operator and the bank staff may violate the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) enforced by the ICAC for offering or accepting a bribe respectively.  The maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000 and seven years' imprisonment.

Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC), under Community Relations Department of the ICAC, strives to help banks and financial institutions guard against corruption and foster an ethical culture. Click here to visit HKBEDC website for more information about anti-bribery laws and HKBEDC's services.

If you suspect corruption, please call the ICAC 24-hour Report Hotline at (852) 25 266 366.

The highlights of this issue include:

• continuation of anti-corruption initiatives on various online platforms under the COVID-19 pandemic;
• the launch of the "Reading for Integrity" moral education programme to pass on positive values to the young generations;
• ICAC's former Director of Corruption Prevention taking on new international role;
• more global recognitions on Hong Kong's anti-corruption efforts; and
• ICAC Annual Report 2019.

Please click here for the 40^th issue of the ICAC Post.

All insurance clients are looking for a professional, honest and trustworthy insurance intermediary to provide them suitable insurance advice and the best protection.  The "Integrity for Success" Ethics Promotion Website for the Insurance Industry developed by the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre can help insurance intermediaries equip themselves and be their clients' Only One!

The website offers a wide range of ethics training resources and useful information for insurance practitioners.  Please visit https://hkbedc.icac.hk/insurance for more details.

One of the key strengths of Hong Kong's testing and certification (T&C) sector is its high level of integrity and credibility, which gives confidence to users of T&C services.  To maintain the integrity standard in the industry, the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre will jointly organise a webinar with the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification and the Hong Kong Accreditation Service on 30 July 2020 (Thursday).

The webinar will cover the anti-corruption laws in Hong Kong and the common corruption risks and ethical issues that may be encountered by T&C practitioners.  Details of the webinar are as follows:

For enquiries, please contact Ms Charmaine NG at 3605 9630 or email to hkctcwebinar_30july@mills.events.