Readers of this journal will be very familiar with our Institute’s Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update (ACRU). In almost two and half decades (the forum was launched in 1999), ACRU has earned itself an invaluable place at the heart of our professional development work.
On the evidence of our latest ACRU, held in hybrid mode on 9 June 2023, the ACRU success story shows no sign of slowing down. Our 24th ACRU set a new attendance record, with 2,200 attendees in person and online, and attracted an impressive lineup of speakers from six regulatory bodies in Hong Kong.
I am glad of this opportunity to express my thanks, and the thanks of our Institute, to everyone who contributed to this year’s forum. ACRU represents a unique collaboration between many different parties – some highly visible and others working behind the scenes.
Thanks should of course go to the representatives of our regulatory bodies and the government, who are the main attraction of the event, but also to our senior members and Secretariat officers who took on the all-important roles of chairing and compering the sessions. I would also like to thank our sponsors for their generosity in funding the event and our superb Secretariat staff for their hard work ensuring that the event ran smoothly.
Our CGj ACRU reviews provide summations of what was discussed and I leave you to the excellent tour of this year’s event over the following pages. Before I conclude though, I would like to highlight another article in this month’s edition. This month’s In Focus article reviews a new HKCGI research paper, published in collaboration with KPMG China in May 2023, addressin the very timely topic of board diversity.
Our Institute has been promoting the benefits of improved diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for over a decade and I encourage you to read our latest initiative in this
space: The Transformative Power of Diversity – Regulatory and Practical Considerations for Boards (the Report). This joint HKCGI/KPMG Report, available from the Thought Leadership/ Research Papers section of our website (www.hkcgi.org.hk), provides useful recommendations for companies seeking to raise their game in this area of governance.
One of the key messages that I would like to highlight here is that taking a compliance approach to diversity misses the point. Diversity is not only about having a good diversity profile – in terms of having a good representation of different genders, ages, ethnicities and expertise. This is of course a necessary first step, but the other two components of DEI are just as important. This is also about having an equitable and inclusive culture, and adopting such a culture helps not only in corporate decision-making, but also in improving a company’s relationship with key stakeholders.
We still have a long journey ahead of us in Hong Kong if we want to achieve optimum levels of DEI, but the recent ban on single gender boards, alongside other initiatives highlighted in this month’s In Focus article, are having an impact. Rest assured that our Institute will continue to promote the benefits for organisations, commercial and non-commercial, of adopting diverse, equitable and inclusive cultures.
On the evidence of our latest ACRU, held in hybrid mode on 9 June 2023, the ACRU success story shows no sign of slowing down. Our 24th ACRU set a new attendance record, with 2,200 attendees in person and online, and attracted an impressive lineup of speakers from six regulatory bodies in Hong Kong.
I am glad of this opportunity to express my thanks, and the thanks of our Institute, to everyone who contributed to this year’s forum. ACRU represents a unique collaboration between many different parties – some highly visible and others working behind the scenes.
Thanks should of course go to the representatives of our regulatory bodies and the government, who are the main attraction of the event, but also to our senior members and Secretariat officers who took on the all-important roles of chairing and compering the sessions. I would also like to thank our sponsors for their generosity in funding the event and our superb Secretariat staff for their hard work ensuring that the event ran smoothly.
Our CGj ACRU reviews provide summations of what was discussed and I leave you to the excellent tour of this year’s event over the following pages. Before I conclude though, I would like to highlight another article in this month’s edition. This month’s In Focus article reviews a new HKCGI research paper, published in collaboration with KPMG China in May 2023, addressin the very timely topic of board diversity.
Our Institute has been promoting the benefits of improved diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for over a decade and I encourage you to read our latest initiative in this
space: The Transformative Power of Diversity – Regulatory and Practical Considerations for Boards (the Report). This joint HKCGI/KPMG Report, available from the Thought Leadership/ Research Papers section of our website (www.hkcgi.org.hk), provides useful recommendations for companies seeking to raise their game in this area of governance.
One of the key messages that I would like to highlight here is that taking a compliance approach to diversity misses the point. Diversity is not only about having a good diversity profile – in terms of having a good representation of different genders, ages, ethnicities and expertise. This is of course a necessary first step, but the other two components of DEI are just as important. This is also about having an equitable and inclusive culture, and adopting such a culture helps not only in corporate decision-making, but also in improving a company’s relationship with key stakeholders.
We still have a long journey ahead of us in Hong Kong if we want to achieve optimum levels of DEI, but the recent ban on single gender boards, alongside other initiatives highlighted in this month’s In Focus article, are having an impact. Rest assured that our Institute will continue to promote the benefits for organisations, commercial and non-commercial, of adopting diverse, equitable and inclusive cultures.
