News Flash

The Amendment Ordinance seeks to modernise the CO and the Model Articles
to expressly cater for the scenario of companies holding fully virtual general meetings
without the requirement for presence of members at any physical locations; as well as
a mixed mode of such virtual general meetings and members attending at physical
location(s), i.e. hybrid general meetings.

To celebrate Year of Rabbit, for every successful referral of a new member by each AWAHK’s member, he/she will be rewarded with a 2 free CPD Webinar organized within 2023 by referring a new life member to join AWAHK.

The Government published in the Gazette today (December 9) the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions for Family-owned Investment Holding Vehicles) Bill 2022, aiming to provide tax concession for eligible family-owned investment holding vehicles (FIHVs) managed by single family offices (SFOs) in Hong Kong with a view to facilitating the development of family office business in Hong Kong.

Enhanced User Interface for the Desktop Version of the IRIS Online Services of the Land Registry will be rolled out at 7:30 a.m. on 31 December 2022 (Saturday).

As of August 1, 2022, if your company holds property in the United Kingdom, you will be required to register with Companies House by January 31, 2023 as a result of The Register of Overseas Entities ("ROE") legislation.

The Government published in the Gazette on November 25 the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2022. The Bill aims to provide sufficient flexibility for companies to hold general meetings in various manners.

"Under the current Companies Ordinance, companies may use technology to hold general meetings at two or more places. In recent years, the advancement of technology has made adoption of virtual means to hold and participate in meetings possible worldwide. Taking into account local stakeholders' views and practices of comparable commercial centres, we propose amending the Companies Ordinance to expressly enable companies holding general meetings virtually or in hybrid mode, rather than holding meetings only at physical locations. This seeks to provide sufficient flexibility for companies to conduct corporate affairs smoothly and effectively having regard to their own circumstances and needs," a Government spokesperson said.

香港金融管理局(金管局)今日(10 月 20 日)聯同「銀行業中小企貸款協調機制」(協調機制)宣布,再次延長「預先批核還息不還本」計劃(計劃) 6個月至 2023 年 7 月底。同時,考慮到計劃已經推出兩年半,計劃將優化部分本金還款選項,協助有能力的企業準備日後逐步回復正常還款。

​The Financial Reporting Council issues Guidelines outlining the criteria and procedures for a new or renewal application, and related procedures for complying with the ongoing notification requirements.

FAKE EMAIL : DO NOT OPEN

Caring Company Logo has been awarded to Association of Women Accountants (Hong Kong) Limited again.

On July 8, the Government published the latest issue of Hong Kong's Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) Risk Assessment Report.

In particular, the Government will introduce a legislative proposal to the Legislative Council to amend the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance to introduce a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers and a registration regime for dealers in precious metals and stones in order to mitigate the ML/TF risks of the sectors and protect investors.

Employment and Retirement Schemes Legislation (Offsetting Arrangement) (Amendment) Bill 2022 was passed by the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 9 June 2022.

The offsetting arrangement will be abolished starting from a date to be appointed (the transition date). After the transition date, employers can no longer use ERMC to offset employees’ SP/LSP. Employers can continue to use their voluntary contributions and the returns derived therefrom and gratuities based on employees' length of service to offset SP/LSP from before or after the transition date.

The Business Registration Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2022 will come into operation on 17 June 2022. Pursuant to the Order, the rate of the business registration levy is reduced from $250 per annum to $150 per annum.

The Inland Revenue Department today (June 6) alerted members of the public to a fraudulent email purportedly issued by the department with the subject of "Your Annual Tax Refund Is Ready". The email provides a hyperlink to a website which may seek to obtain the recipient's personal particulars and credit card information.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has issued on 13 May the First Quarter Economic Report 2022, together with the revised figures on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2022.

The Guidelines provide specific and practical guidelines for audit committees to establish a robust process for selecting, appointing and reappointing auditors, an essential first step in achieving audit quality. The publication highlights two key considerations for audit committees in selecting and appointing auditors: audit quality and audit fees.

The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) has published a review report entitled, ‘Missing Opportunities? A Review of Gender Diversity on Hong Kong Boards’ on 9 February 2021.

IRD further extend the due date for filing 2020/21 Profits Tax returns
for loss cases with Accounting Date Code ‘M’ (i.e. accounting date falls within 1
January 2021 to 31 March 2021) 30 April 2022.

Press Release of the HKMC Insurance Limited on Enhancements to the 100% Personal Loan Guarantee Scheme as proposed by the Financial Secretary and AWAHK Advisor, Hon Paul MP Chan in his Budget Speech

Press Release from the HKMC Insurance Limited regarding the Enhancements to the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme proposed by the Financial Secretary and AWAHK Advisor, Hon. Paul MP Chan.

Amendments to the Mortgage Insurance Programme as Proposed by the Financial Secretary and AWAHK Advisor, Mr. Paul MP Chan, in his Budget Speech

The harbour and harbourfront are one of the many great features that Hong Kong is proud of.

You can enjoy the 7.4 kilometres continuous waterfront promenade length in Hong Kong Island North by 40 per cent to , allowing visitors tFortress Hill

Now you can enjoy the 7.4 kilometres continuous waterfront promenade length in Hong Kong Island North by walking along the harbourfront area from Shek Tong Tsui all the way to Fortress Hill!

經修訂的《企業管治守則》及《上市規則》於2022年1月1日生效，明年7月起新股董事會不可為單一性別之成員；現有上市發行人會有三年過渡期遵守此規定（即不遲於2024年12月31日委任一名其他性別的董事）。

We would like to share the following useful services for our members as an alert to your property from the Land Registry and being informed of any updates from the Companies Registry about your companies. In case if there are any filing/irregularities changes, you will be notified through the E-Alert or E-Monitor.

We are pleased to inform that the Government has just announced the launch of the Financial Industry Recruitment Scheme for Young Graduates (YOUTH) as an extension of FIRST, aimed at creating 200 full-time jobs in the financial services industry for recent university graduates. Each eligible employer may apply for a subsidy to employ up to two university graduates of 2019 to 2021.

Financial Reporting Council (FRC) welcomes the appointments of 10 new members and the reappointment of 5 convenors and 6 members to the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) by the HKSAR Government today, and expresses sincere gratitude to the retiring FRRP members. Please refer to the attachment for the list of newly appointed, reappointed and retiring FRRP convenors and members.

各位親愛的會員和朋友：
香港特別行政區政府於二零二一年七月一日公佈授勳及嘉獎名單。
欣悉以下香港女會計師協會會員獲行政長官頒授勳銜及嘉獎，認同與肯定其對社會的貢獻 :

香港稅務學會祝賀AWAHK十五周年誌慶視頻

2021 marks the 15th Anniversary for AWAHK. As part of the celebration of this remarkable year, we are pleased to offer a special rate for the LIFE membership fee at HK$500 (original: HK$1,000) for new members joining before end of May 2021.

香港特別行政區政府十月一日於憲報刊登二零二零年授勳名單及太平紳士委任名單。