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DRAFT SPEECH BY HON W C L BROWN, OBE, JP
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
shak
18.4.85
Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 1984
sir,
The
Three Bills introduced into this Council during the
1983/84 Session were held over for one reason or another to this
Session it is pure coincidence that I am Convener of all three of the LegCo Groups examining these pieces of legislation. Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 1984 is one of these
delayed Bills, and I speak this afternoon as Convener of the LegCo
Monetary Affairs Working Group, which has now reached agreement
with the Administration as to how the various issues involved can
best be resolved.
When this Bill was first introduced its main purpose
appeared to be no more than a straight forward, reasonable
proposal to tighten up on the residential requirements for
auditors in simple terms to ensure that those signing
certificates were physically in Hong Kong to supervise the work in
their offices and render expert advice to their clients.
The Bill had the strong support of the Council of the
Hong Kong Society of Accountants, but not unfortunately of all
auditors. No one seems to object to the principle of a
residential requirement, but to do so by legislation
as opposed
-
to the internal rules of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants seems to raise objections, to put it mildly, of those who believe
this Bill, by removing certain vested rights by law, would be at
least inequitable, and at worst seriously weaken the community's
faith in our legal framework and the rule of law.
In picking its way through the minefield of emotions raised by these issues the LegCo Group has gone into them in some
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