- 18.
-
Listing Rules of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited
Following is a question by the Hong Eric Li Ka-cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services, Mr Rafael Hui, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Under Clause 8.17 of the Listing Rules of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, all listed companies are required to have a named secretary who is either a professional accountant, lawyer or Chartered Secretary who has the requisite knowledge and experience in discharging the complex statutory and regulatory functions of the post. Will the Government inform this Council whether it will request the Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission to consider introducing regulations requiring all listed companies to engage professional accountants at the senior management level with designated responsibilities for overseeing the accounting and financial reporting functions of listed companies, including:
(a)
ensuring that the increasingly complex financial reporting requirements under both the Listing Rules and the generally accepted accounting principles are complied with;
ensuring that information of a high quality is provided; and
(b)
(c)
accessing the audit committee of listed companies;
Reply:
if so, what the details are; if not, why not?
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) has studied earlier this year a similar proposal in a report of the Working Group on Corporate Governance set up by the Hong Kong Society of Accountants. The proposal is one amongst many in the report and would require all listed companies to appoint a chief finance officer who is a professional accountant to the board of directors. The SEHK has concluded that there is no immediate need to implement the proposal because -
(a)
under the Companies Ordinance, every company is required to cause to be kept proper books of account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs. It is the directors' responsibility to ensure that the financial statements give a true and fair view and that competent and sufficient personnel or other resources are devoted for this purpose;
and