Hong Kong's accountancy regulator has come under attack in the Court of Appeal after fining a member HK$250,000 for a 'mere clerical error' in a case tainted by allegations of bias.
Peter Chan Po-fun is challenging the decision by the Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) to impose the fine for such an error in a company audit.
He previously tried to block disciplinary proceedings by the society at the High Court.
Mr Chan was found by an HKSA committee in August to have used the wrong formula in relation to the audit of the financial statements of a private firm.
This was after an anonymous informer, claiming to be an assessor from the Inland Revenue Department, wrote to the HKSA last July about the audit.
Although the informant was found not to be an employee of the tax bureau, the society continued investigating the audit.