As a public body, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) places importance on transparency and accountability in the way it operates, which also includes the way the SFC produces its annual report.
'Our corporate values define the way we work, communicate and make decisions. To ensure that our organisational culture of being professional, proactive and collaborative is reflected in our annual report, we apply sound co-ordination and communication skills and expertise at every stage,' says Ashley Alder, the SFC's CEO, who points out the annual report project is cross-divisional and engages the entire SFC.
Selecting the theme 'revitalisation' to reflect the objective of regulatory reforms, the SFC says the report is designed to meet the needs of a wide audience ranging from industry participants to government officials, journalists, investors, prospective employees and students.
'Since regulatory work is, by nature, technical, in addition to chronicling our regulatory work of the past year, we strive to give our readers a simplified yet accurate overview of our roles and responsibilities in a meaningful and easy-to-understand way,' says Alder.
According to the SFC's External Relations Department (ERD), the 'revitalisation' theme aligns with efforts to rectify structural deficiencies, rebuild market confidence and revive Hong Kong's financial markets. Water was used as an analogy because it is recognised as an essential element for any life form. 'Water refreshes, revitalises and nourishes. Similarly, as they evolve, reforms are also vital in supporting and strengthening our financial markets,' says the ERD.
The ERD says to underline the importance of continuing to reinforce the SFC's regulatory model designed to meet market changes and challenges, the report goes beyond reporting past achievements and highlights regulatory vision and plans for moving forward. To achieve this, the SFC has introduced a new 'Corporate Outlook', chapter, which emphasises corporate priorities and plans to address changes and challenges ahead.
'Commitment to continuous improvement is reflected in the way various aspects of the report are fine-tuned, such as content structure, clarity of information and readability,' says the ERD.