HONG KONG, May 7 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) hosted the eighth Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update (ACRU) conference on 4th May, 2007 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event was, once again, well supported by the Hong Kong's regulators with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Companies Registry (CR), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and Inland Revenue Department (IRD) briefing HKICS members and other professionals on the latest developments in their respective areas.
ACRU is traditionally the most popular and largest professional development programme run by the Institute. ACRU 2007 was another record breaking year with nearly 800 delegates in attendance.
The topics covered by the representatives from the SFC included the New Sponsor Regime and SFC's major investigative powers over listed companies, The CR covered on the amendments to Part XI of the Companies Ordinance in the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2004. The HKEx covered a broad area including practical guidance on compliance with the Listing Rules, abolition of the requirement for Main Board issuers to Publish Announcements in the newspapers and recent regulatory developments involving the HKEx such as implementation of the code on corporate governance practices. The final session was presented by the IRD and it reviewed the latest double taxation arrangements between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
As usual the Q&A session produced some lively interchange between regulators and practitioners as the latter posed candid questions to the various representatives of the regulators.
"This year's ACRU is particularly interesting since there are a number of important compliance issues, such as the proposed changes to the Listing Rules, the move to abolition of paid announcements, which will have significant ramifications for practitioners in Hong Kong," said Mr. Richard Leung, Chairman of Profession Development Committee, HKICS.
"ACRU provides a unique chance for regulators and practitioners to exchange information and ideas directly," Mrs. Natalia Seng, President of HKICS. "Such first-hand information from the key regulators on the latest developments and changes in corporate law and practice is extremely useful to our members and those from the legal and accounting professions who also attend and support this conference. I am delighted with the continued success of ACRU."
"On behalf of HKICS I would like to thank the SFC, the CR, the HKEx, the IRD, the various legal and accounting professional bodies and of course, our generous sponsors for their help in making ACRU 2007 a success." continued Mrs. Seng.
ACRU forms part of the Institute's Enhanced Continuing Professional Development Programme which is endorsed by the Stock Exchange. HKICS is also a SFC recognised institution to provide continuous professional training.
About The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries
Good Governance Comes with Membership
The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries is an independent professional body with approximately 4,900 members and 2,700 students. It is dedicated to the promotion of its members' role in the formulation and effective implementation of good corporate governance policies in Hong Kong and throughout China as well as the development of the profession of Chartered Secretary.
The Institute was first established in 1949 as an association of Hong Kong members of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) of London. It became a branch of ICSA in 1990 before gaining local status in 1994.
About the Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update (ACRU)
The inaugural ACRU was held in March 2000 with participation and support from key regulatory and professional bodies and has continued to go from strength to strength with ACRU 2007 the most successful ever with nearly 800 delegates.
For enquiries, please contact:
Ms Elaine Cheung
Tel: +852-2881-6177
Fax: +852-2881-5050
Email: elaine@hkics.org.hk
Website: www.hkics.org.hk
