13 December, 2017
Lucy Newcombe, Director, Global Corporate Communications, Computershare, takes us on a tour of the 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) season, locally and internationally. After several years where shareholder activism has been the major point of change and contention...
13 December, 2017
CSj talks to HKSAR Financial Secretary Paul Mo-Po Chan GBM GBS JP FCIS FCS about his aspirations for maintaining Hong Kong’s competitive edge in the rapidly changing political, business and social environment, and about the role that professional practitioners such as...
13 December, 2017
John Sayer, Director, Carbon Care Asia, highlights the latest trends in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and offers advice on how to ensure you gain first-mover benefits rather than face the catch-up penalties of a laggard. It is clear that ESG...
13 December, 2017
Disclosing just performance metrics does not constitute effective environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. Dr Glenn Frommer and Theodora Thunder, Principals, Sustainability Partnership, give some practical advice on how companies can structure a connected...
13 December, 2017
Herbert Smith Freehills looks at the latest guidance from the Securities and Futures Commission which sets out minimum standards to enhance cybersecurity resilience and reduce and mitigate hacking risks related to internet trading. On 27 October 2017, the Securities...
13 December, 2017
The winning paper in the Institute’s latest Corporate Governance Paper Competition suggests ways for both companies and government policy makers to improve the governance and sustainability of Chinese family-controlled firms. Although the concepts of corporate...
13 December, 2017
2017 AGM season review Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full edition....
14 November, 2017
CSj examines the key emerging technology issues relevant to Hong Kong businesses and looks at the role of company secretaries in ensuring the effective management of technology risks and opportunities. From hacking to digital payments, technology issues have become...
14 November, 2017
Alaya Consultings second annual survey of the ESG performance of Hong Kongs top 200 listed companies finds that 99% of the companies surveyed are in compliance with current ESG reporting requirements. The survey also indicates, however, that few companies are getting...
14 November, 2017
Company secretaries have a key role in addressing climate risk, argues Maya de Souza, Senior Manager – Policy Research, Business Environment Council Ltd, not only to ensure effective risk management and ESG reporting, but also to future proof the organisations...
14 November, 2017
Compliance professionals need to keep a close eye on the case law relating to labour disputes in Hong Kong. Zoe Chan So Yuen FCS FCIS, solicitor, looks at how the courts in the HKSAR have played an important role in upholding basic employee rights. Hong Kong is often...
14 November, 2017
In July 2016, the Institute set up seven Interest Groups under the Technical Consultation Panel to produce guidance notes on key topics in governance and company secretarial practice. This article reviews the latest additions to the guidance note series. The...
14 November, 2017
Making sense of technology – the company secretary role Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full edition....
13 October, 2017
The not-for-profit sector offers a rewarding and increasingly popular career stream for Chartered Secretaries. This month, CSj talks to company secretaries about the rewards and the challenges of working in this sector. In the context of the limited resources...
13 October, 2017
CSj interviews four Chartered Secretaries working for Mainland enterprises listed in Hong Kong about the challenges they faced studying for the International Qualifying Scheme and about the benefits the Chartered Secretarial qualification has brought them in their...
13 October, 2017
China has always been a challenging place to do business, and this is just as true for the process of rightsizing operations as it is for building a presence in the market. Brent Carlson, Director, Hong Kong, AlixPartners, offers guidance for companies looking to cull...
13 October, 2017
ESG reporting provides transparency on energy use. However, the question remains: how can companies use this information to manage their business and contribute to their success? Anne Jacobs, Senior Expert, Sustainable Construction, BASF, looks at how Chartered...
13 October, 2017
Edmund Lowell, Founder, KYC Chain Ltd, argues that the solution to Hong Kongs current know your customer (KYC) compliance woes is distributed ledger technology and customer-owned digital identity. No one living in Hong Kong could be in any doubt that the methods...
13 October, 2017
Not for profit: A company secretary perspective Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
13 September, 2017
Li Yang, Vice-President of Overseas Chinese Town (Asia) Holdings Ltd, looks at the governance implications of China’s mixed-ownership reform drive. Mixed-ownership reform – the attempt to encourage a more diversified ownership of China’s state-owned...
13 September, 2017
Yu Tengqun, Board Secretary, General Counsel and Press Spokesman of China Railway Group Ltd, shares his views on the role of the board secretary in corporate governance. In November 2006, I was appointed Board Secretary of China Railway Engineering Corporation. In...
13 September, 2017
The practice of shareholder communications, which is an important part of the board secretary function, has been evolving rapidly in recent years. Li Zhidong FCIS FCS, Company Secretary of CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Ltd, shares some best...
13 September, 2017
Kenneth Jiang FCIS FCS(PE), Chief Representative, The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries Beijing Representative Office, reviews the work of the Institute on the Mainland in the past year in serving listed companies, promoting corporate governance and...
13 September, 2017
A new guidance note, published by the Institute’s Securities Law and Regulation Interest Group, gives practical guidance on IPO due diligence and the role of company secretaries in helping companies to transition from the private to the public realm. The right...
13 September, 2017
China Update – Special edition Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
14 August, 2017
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre at the Independent Commission Against Corruption regards the company secretary as a trusted partner to achieve better ethical and governance standards in Hong Kong companies. As part of the senior management team, the...
14 August, 2017
In an interview with CSj, Chua Hoi Wai, Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, discusses the challenges facing NGO boards in Hong Kong. Many thanks for giving us this interview – could we start by discussing what constitutes good governance for...
14 August, 2017
Since the Hong Kong Competition Ordinance took full effect on 14 December 2015, the Competition Commission has gradually shifted to a harder line enforcement style. Alastair Mordaunt, Partner; and Joy Wong, Associate; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, look at the...
14 August, 2017
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) responds to questions raised during the Institute’s latest Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update seminar, held in June this year. How does the SFC identify cases of misleading information disclosure? What standards...
14 August, 2017
Eric Sohn, Director of Business Product, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, New York, warns against trying to scrape by with a minimal sanctions compliance programme. When faced with sanctions compliance requirements, many firms focus on ‘requirements’ so as to...
14 August, 2017
Dr Raymond Chan, Associate Professor; and Dr Angus Young, Senior Lecturer; Hong Kong Baptist University, take a look at Hong Kong’s proposed beneficial ownership regime and its implications for governance professionals. Anti-money laundering (AML) measures are...
14 August, 2017
Ethical Governance – Keeping companies on track Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
12 July, 2017
Katherine Ng, Senior Vice-President and Head of Policy, Listing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (the Exchange), and a speaker at the Institute’s latest Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update seminar held last month at the Hong Kong Convention and...
12 July, 2017
The importance of cultivating an independent mindset for both independent non-executive directors and the company secretary emerged as a central theme of this year’s Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update seminar, held last month at the Hong Kong Convention and...
12 July, 2017
CSj highlights the main compliance issues raised by regulators at the Institute’s latest Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update. The Institute’s Annual Corporate and Regulatory Update (ACRU) provides attendees with first-hand knowledge of the emerging...
12 July, 2017
Since the 1990s, South Africa’s King Reports on Corporate Governance have consistently been at the leading edge of governance best practice. Mervyn King, Chairman of both the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa, and the International...
12 July, 2017
Gabriela Kennedy, Partner; and Karen HF Lee, Senior Associate; Mayer Brown JSM, assess the latest proposals by the Securities and Futures Commission to reduce hacking risks among licensed corporations. On 8 May 2017, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission...
12 July, 2017
ACRU 2017 review Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
14 June, 2017
CSj looks at the implications for company secretaries and risk and governance professionals of the government’s latest proposals designed to strengthen Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. Next year, the Financial...
14 June, 2017
Dominic Wai, Partner, ONC Lawyers, looks at the role of company secretaries and directors in anti-money laundering compliance. Millions of dollars come into and go out of Hong Kong every day, legitimate or not, as Hong Kong is an international financial centre with no...
14 June, 2017
Cecilia Xianying Lou, Partner; and Mark Guangrui Fu, Managing Associate; of King & Wood Mallesons, give an introduction to China’s Cybersecurity Law which becomes effective this month, and assess the implications of the law for companies with a business...
14 June, 2017
Richard Welford, Chairman, CSR Asia, gives his top 10 tips to ‘future-proof’ your business. The world is changing. Challenging economic times, volatile world events, a deteriorating environment, a growing social divide and fast-changing technology are leaving...
14 June, 2017
This second and final part of the winning paper of the Institute’s Corporate Governance Paper Competition 2016 completes the authors’ elaboration of their five-stage inclusive stakeholder model of corporate governance. In this article, we advocate an inclusive...
14 June, 2017
Alicia Yi, Managing Director, Board and CEO Services, Korn Ferry, discusses whether quotas will be required to increase the number of women on the boards of Asian listed companies. Asian companies continue to lag the rest of the world when it comes to gender diversity...
14 June, 2017
AML compliance – Your best practice guide Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
15 May, 2017
Integrated reporting hopes to redraw the corporate bottom line with its measurement of non-financial ‘capitals’. While only a few listed Hong Kong companies have adopted its principles, the International Integrated Reporting Council, under new leader Richard...
15 May, 2017
The Institute’s Takeovers, Mergers and Acquisitions Interest Group launched a new series of guidance notes earlier this year designed to help company secretaries navigate the complexities involved in managing and advising on merger and acquisition (M&A)...
15 May, 2017
The winning paper of the Institute’s Corporate Governance Paper Competition 2016 argues in favour of an inclusive stakeholder approach to corporate governance. This submission advocates an inclusive stakeholder model for the implementation of better corporate...
15 May, 2017
Zoe Chan So Yuen FCIS FCS, LLM, Solicitor, reviews relevant e-signature legislation and guidelines in Hong Kong and around the world, and brings readers up to date with best practice recommendations on the use of e-signatures. As increasing numbers of organisations...
15 May, 2017
In June 2015, the Securities and Futures Commission opted not to allow dual class share structures for primary listings in Hong Kong on the basis that such structures would be too risky from the point of view of investor protection. Eng Leng Ng, Senior Partner; and...
15 May, 2017
Rudy Escalante, Chief Operating Officer – Global Services, ICSA Software International, looks at the advantages for company secretaries of having a centralised database within an entity management system providing a single source for all entity-related information....
15 May, 2017
Integrated reporting – the future is waiting Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
13 April, 2017
This month sees the implementation of the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC’s) ‘Managers in Charge Regime’ (MICR) for all licensed corporations. Veronique Marquis and Catriona Kellas, of Eversheds, look at the compliance implications for...
13 April, 2017
The winner of the HKICS Prize 2016, Gordon Jones FCIS FCS BBS, Hong Kong’s former Registrar of Companies, was closely involved in putting in place Hong Kong’s current statutory and regulatory infrastructure. In this interview with CSj, he points out that...
13 April, 2017
There have been numerous changes to Hong Kong’s Corporate Governance Code that require companies to adapt quickly. Kanus Yue, Risk Assurance Partner, PwC Hong Kong, highlights the findings of a recent PwC study designed to assist listed companies to comply with...
13 April, 2017
Tow Lu Lim and Sara Or, partners of Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong, assess the implications of the new guidance note issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) imposing more stringent corporate governance standards on authorised insurers in Hong Kong....
13 April, 2017
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has prioritised listed company malfeasance for enforcement action. As a result, listed companies and their directors will come under increasing scrutiny as to how they manage price-sensitive information. Timothy Loh,...
13 April, 2017
Accountability – Making it personal Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full edition. ...
13 March, 2017
Rapid technological advances are transforming international financial centres around the world. CSj looks at the challenge of disruption and opportunities to create new markets that will be the result of Hong Kong’s own fintech revolution. Given that financial...
13 March, 2017
Kirstin McCracken, Principal Associate/Consultant, Eversheds Hong Kong, looks at how new technological advances can be relied on to change the way that corporate secretaries more efficiently support their organisations, along with the challenges inherent in moving to...
13 March, 2017
Bénédicte Nolens, Senior Director, Head of Risk & Strategy and Head of the Fintech Contact Point, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), gives a regulator’s perspective on how technology is transforming the financial sector. In a recent article, Klaus...
13 March, 2017
In the fallout from the very public fight for control of the Tata Group which ended with the ousting of its chair Cyrus Mistry in October last year, Dr Christine Chow, Associate Director, Hermes EOS, Hermes Investment Management, assesses some of the lessons that can...
13 March, 2017
The latest HKICS Regional Board Secretaries Panel meeting, held on 19 January 2017 in Hong Kong, was a timely opportunity for experience sharing and practical advice on shareholder communications for listed companies in the Mainland and Hong Kong. Shareholder...
13 March, 2017
The Chartered Secretarial qualification can lead to many different career paths. In this second interview in our ‘Career Paths’ series, Estella Ng Yi-kum ACIS ACS, Deputy Chairman, Executive Director, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Company...
13 March, 2017
Fintech in Hong Kong Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
14 February, 2017
Corporate governance practices vary internationally, but is a global consensus emerging on corporate governance best practice? Moreover, how will the changing attitudes to governance affect the company secretary role? Edward Speed, the London-based Chairman; and Alice...
14 February, 2017
CSj interviews Pensri Suteerasarn, President of the Thai Listed Companies Association, on the latest initiatives in Thailand to strengthen the local corporate secretarial profession. Thanks for giving us this interview, can we start with some background about...
14 February, 2017
Thomas Atkinson, who took up his appointment as Executive Director of Enforcement at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in May last year, gives an overview of the SFC’s enforcement priorities going forward. Ever since I started my challenging new role...
14 February, 2017
The recent Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) decision in the Citron Research case confirms the usefulness of Section 277 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) for regulators seeking to prevent a false market in the shares of Hong Kong listed companies....
14 February, 2017
Alexander Que, Partner, and Rhoda Yung, Partner, Deacons, look at the implications of the first finding of breaches of the inside information disclosure requirements under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. The first set of proceedings in the Market Misconduct...
14 February, 2017
Governance perspectives – Local and global Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
13 January, 2017
CSj looks at some best practice recommendations on board governance, their possible applications in the local business environment of Hong Kong and the company secretary’s role in boosting the effectiveness of boards. Board governance – how complicated can it...
13 January, 2017
Many corporate governance systems around the world have put increasing reliance on the role of the independent director, but what is it like to perform this role? What makes a good independent director? What is the relationship between the company secretary and...
13 January, 2017
Tony Wong, Founder and GRI Nominated Trainer, Alaya Consulting Ltd, argues that the new Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards launched in October 2016 provide a user-friendly structure for Hong Kong companies of all sizes to start or continue...
13 January, 2017
A new HKICS guidance note seeks to bring some clarity to the complex due diligence required to successfully manage merger and acquisition transactions, and to highlight the role the company secretary can play in the process. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are...
13 January, 2017
A dinner was held in Beijing in November 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) Representative Office in Beijing. On behalf of HKICS Council, HKICS President Ivan Tam FCIS FCS, gave a...
13 January, 2017
Sherman Yan, Dominic Wai and Eutonia Chen, ONC Lawyers, give an overview of the dawn raid and investigative powers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Competition Commission (CC), and practical tips on...
13 January, 2017
Board building – Improving the effectiveness of your board Click here or on the cover image below to view or download a pdf of the full...
