This month’s edition of your journal reviews our latest AML/CFT conference, held in November 2024. This forum, now in its fifth year, has become an indispensable fixture in the annual calendar of events dedicated to networking and knowledge sharing for stakeholders of the anti–money laundering and counter–financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) space.

You can find a summary of the issues addressed by the forum in our two cover stories this month, but I would like to focus this message on a major development for our Institute and members – the release of the conclusions to the Review of the Corporate Governance Code and Related Listing Rules, published on 19 December by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), and the simultaneous launch of our Institute’s comprehensive Director Training Package.

The amendments to the Corporate Governance Code and Listing Rules set out in the HKEX consultation conclusions will have a major impact on the work of governance professionals. This month’s Technical Update provides a useful summary of those amendments, highlighting the important differences between the original consultation proposals and the final conclusions.

Our submission to the consultation, delivered in August 2024, expressed our Institute’s support for the HKEX proposals, which were designed to enhance board effectiveness, independence and diversity, and to improve risk management and internal controls among listed companies in Hong Kong. Our submission also highlighted, however, a number of ways in which the proposals could be fine-tuned to ensure optimal adaptation to the local business environment and to minimise the resulting compliance burden on listed companies.

HKEX has responded positively to these suggestions, as well as to those of other stakeholders of this debate, and the conclusions depart from the original proposals in a number of ways designed to assist compliance. In particular, companies will have a longer transition period to comply with the incoming cap on the tenure of long-serving INEDs, while the implementation date for the amendments has been delayed until 1 July 2025, giving more time for listed companies to comply with the new requirements. In addition, the requirement for issuers without an independent board chair to designate an independent non-executive director (INED) as a lead INED will be a voluntary recommended best practice.

There can be no doubt that the Code and Rule changes discussed above will have a major impact on the work of governance professionals in Hong Kong, but there is one in particular that is front of mind for our Institute – the new requirement for mandatory director training. As I mentioned in my message last month, this requirement will go a long way towards enhancing board effectiveness in Hong Kong and the Institute intends to play a very practical role in facilitating compliance.

Simultaneous with the release of the consultation conclusions, we launched our Director Training Package, which offers immediate access to the training that directors will need. The training topics align with the new listing requirements and we have designed the package to maximise its accessibility – the training is via online videos and is available in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. The package also includes centralised record-keeping for disclosure reporting requirements and has the backing of a training provider recognised by regulators in Hong Kong.

If you haven’t already done so, I urge all readers to check out the new section of our website (www.hkcgi.org.hk/professional-development/director-training-package) to familiarise yourselves with the key features of our new Director Training Package, which provides an essential one-stop shop for companies seeking to comply with the new listing requirements.