XN000022-1995-07-05 — Page 41

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Clause 13A amends section 35(2)(b) to provide that, where, in aggregate, investment in unrecognised markets exceeds five per cent. of the market value of a scheme's assets, disclosure at the request of the consultative committee shall be required so that members of the scheme may have information about the scheme's exposure to restricted investments.

End/Wednesday, July 5, 1995

Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill: second reading

Following is the speech by the Secretary for the Treasury, Mr K C Kwong, at the resumption of second reading of the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 1995 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

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Mr President,

I thank the Honourable Lau Wah-sum for his clear exposition of the purposes of the Bill, the discussion at the Bills Committee and the Administration's response to the points raised.

The Bills Committee, chaired by the Honourable Lau Wah-sum, has offered valuable advice to us. We are grateful for the Committee's support for the Bill and its commendable efficiency in completing the detailed scrutiny of this short but complex and technical piece of legislation in three meetings only within a period of about one month.

We also thank the various parties, including, of course, the Hong Kong Society of Accountants, who made submissions on the Bill to the Committee.

All these significantly helped us to improve and refine the Bill. As a result, I shall be moving a number of amendments, which have been agreed with the Bills Committee, later on at Committee Stage. We welcome the Bills Committee's backing for those amendments.

Before I do so, let me emphasize three crucial points.