Beijing says it won't shut out Hong Kong auditors under rule change
Beijing officials confirm there is no blanket ban on taking all audit papers out of the mainland, only those deemed to contain state secrets
Ministry of Finance officials have assured the body representing the local accounting industry that they have no intention of closing the mainland's door to overseas accountants, including those from Hong Kong, and that proposed new rules are only aimed at tightening regulation of overseas accountants working there.
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) president Clement Chan, who attended a meeting with ministry officials yesterday, told the South China Morning Post they had responded positively to local accountants' concerns about its proposed new audit rules.
"It went well," Chan said. "They clarified their direction has always been keeping their market open but they want to strengthen the regulatory measures on the illegal cross-border audit activities carried out by foreign auditors on Chinese-based companies."
He said ministry officials would continue to collect views from Hong Kong before the new audit regulation was implemented to ensure it had no negative impact on accountants in the city.
They clarified their direction has always been keeping their market open
The Post reported last month that the ministry had proposed introducing new audit rules later this year that would require international accounting firms to team up with one of the 100-odd mainland accounting firms to perform audits on mainland companies.