The highlights of this issue include:

• Hong Kong continues to thrive and prosper
• Combating corruption in a year of unprecedented challenges
• Forging close partnerships in graft fight in the time of pandemic
• Corruption Prevention Guide for Insurance Companies

The ICAC Post – an electronic newsletter for local and international business communities – aims to keep businessmen posted on the latest development of Hong Kong's anti-corruption work.

Read the 42nd issue of the ICAC Post here.

Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) continues to collaborate actively with different business organisations in promoting business ethics and good governance. We call for your participation in the below two business achievement awards in which HKBEDC is one of their supporting partners. 

The IFTA FinTech Achievement Awards 2020 is organised by the Institute of Financial Technologists of Asia (IFTA) to recognise the extraordinary achievements made by companies and individuals in the FinTech industry.  The theme of this year's Awards is "Embracing FinTech amid New Normal and Accelerating Digitization".  Corporates and individuals in the FinTech community are encouraged to submit online application for the Awards by 26 March 2021 (Friday) 18:00.  More details are available from the programme flyer or the event website.

The ESG Achievement Awards 2020 is organised by the newly established Institute of ESG & Benchmark (IESGB) with an aim to recognise achievements in Hong Kong in the aspects of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices across different types of organisations. Listed companies, private corporations and non-governmental organisations etc. are encouraged to submit online application for the Awards by 26 March 2021 (Friday) 18:00.  More details are available from the programme flyer or the event website.

For enquiries, please contact the organisers of the above events directly.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre wishes you a healthy and prosperous Year of the Ox!

The Chinese New Year is traditionally a festival of gifting, where exchanges of red packets and gift hampers are common between business associates.  Our feature article "Beware of the laws when presenting gifts at festivals" serves as a timely reminder of the legal and ethical issues that we need to pay attention to when offering gifts in the new year.  Let's revisit the article here.  

There is no doubt that we have been more health-conscious than ever due to the pandemic.  Apart from maintaining a strong physique, it is equally important for us and our companies to stay ethically healthy for guarding against corruption.  The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has just launched two practical tools for corporations and individuals to serve as a "rapid test" on their ethics level.

The Corporate Ethics Health Checklist is for corporate leaders to check their corporate ethics level by examining the company's "brain", "backbone", "heart" and "immunity system", and to diagnose the areas that need improvements.  Click here to download the checklist and steam ahead in the road to ethical corporate governance.
	The Work Ethics Fitness Challenge, which consists of a set of scenario questions on ethical challenges at workplace, is for individual employees to assess their ethical fitness.  Click here to complete your challenge now online.   HKBEDC has also developed the  Model, which is an ethical decision making tool for resolving workplace ethical dilemmas. Visit our thematic website for more guidelines on how to make ethical decisions at work.

HKBEDC offers free talks and seminars on corruption prevention for business organisations and ethical decision making workshops for professionals.  Please feel free to contact us for more information.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a tremendous hit to SMEs and start-ups.  While business operators have to stay resilient in the volatile economy, they must not neglect the possible risks and costs that corruption and related malpractices may bring to their companies.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has released a new issue of the "Smart Tips for SMEs" feature articles series reminding business operators to remain vigilant against corruption in times of adversity. You may click here to download the article.

More useful information and ethics resources for SMEs and Start-ups are available on the HKBEDC's "SMEs and Start-ups Corner".  Trade associations of different industries and start-up connectors are also welcome to join the "SME Corruption Prevention Network" and "Starting-Up Right! Connectors Network" to help us disseminate integrity messages to your members.

Work-from-home and study-from-home have become the new normals under the COVID-19 pandemic.  To facilitate the remote learning of insurance intermediaries, the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre developed an online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module on anti-corruption laws and professional ethics in collaboration with the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers.  Participants may earn 0.5 IA CPD hour on "Ethics or Regulations" upon completion of this half-hour module (only Chinese version is available).  You may click here to view the details and enrol.

Besides, the ICAC has launched a "Corruption Prevention Guide for Insurance Companies" to assist insurance companies in establishing and strengthening their corruption prevention capabilities. Click here to download the Guide.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre wishes you a merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

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.

To commemorate its silver jubilee, Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (the Centre) held its first-ever livestreaming anniversary event on 19 November 2020. The Event was graced by the Commissioner of the ICAC and representatives of the Hong Kong Ethics Development Advisory Committee (BEDAC). We are also very grateful to be joined by our close allies from different trade and professional organisations via Zoom.   

Taking of this opportunity, the Centre launched its new logo with a new tagline: "Embrace Ethics · Enjoy Success" which calls upon the business sector to adopt best business practice and embrace ethical values in their corporate management.   Please visit our 25th Anniversary Event page for the full version throwback video of the Event!

The new HKBEDC logo is a combination of letter "E" and "B", meaning "Ethics is pivotal to Business success".

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!