Belonging to a global profession
I was honoured to be elected as your new President at the Annual General Meeting held on 16 December 2025. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, David Simmonds FCG HKFCG, who will continue to serve the Institute as Immediate Past President. Readers of this journal will be well aware that the work of our Institute is very much a collaborative endeavour and I will be working in the year ahead with a dedicated team of individuals, from both our Council and our Secretariat, to take forward our strategic goals.
This month’s CGj reviews our recent AML/CFT Conference held on 25 November 2025. There was a lot to cover in this year’s forum, both at the local and global levels. The conference addressed, for example, the AML/CFT implications of Hong Kong’s new company redomiciliation regime and the Companies Registry’s updated AML/CFT requirements for trust or company service providers. Key global developments under discussion included global tax reforms, stricter regulation of virtual asset service providers and the many technological innovations impacting AML/CFT compliance.
The nexus of local and global perspectives is a consistent theme in this month’s journal, but I would like in particular to highlight the interview with Kerrie Waring FCG, Director General of The Chartered Governance Institute (CGI) published in our In Focus column this month. Kerrie shares valuable insights into the common themes in governance across the CGI global divisions and the considerable benefits for our members of strengthening their sense of professional identity with governance practitioners worldwide.
Many of those benefits will be very apparent to our Institute members. CGI membership provides valuable opportunities for international exchange and knowledge sharing. Moreover, our Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme (CGQP) remains the world’s premier global governance credential. It provides us with a portable qualification and a badge of quality, not only in respect of the competencies necessary to navigate the complexities of governance practice, but also in terms of holding us to a global standard of ethics and integrity.
Perhaps the most important benefit, however, of belonging to a global profession is that it enables us to build a better understanding of the work of governance professionals globally. We have been hearing a lot recently about the ‘death’ of globalisation, but the convergence towards common standards in areas such as sustainability reporting and governance frameworks continues apace. On this point, before I conclude, I would like to flag up for your diaries an important date later this year. CGI will be holding its first Global Conference Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 22 to 23 September 2026. The event will bring together division leaders, Council members and global standard-setters, including international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Sustainability Standards Board. Initiatives such as this help to position our Institute as a respected thought leader on the meaning of good governance, both at the local and global levels. I hope to see you there.
