Institute's chief hopes to see full convergence of standards between Hong Kong and mainland
Winnie Cheung Chi-woon - a chartered accountant for more than 20 years and chief executive of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants - has overseen some of the biggest changes in the accounting profession during her career.
'Accounting is more than numbers,' said Ms Cheung, who became a chartered accountant in London after graduating from university in Britain.
'It is a way of regulating the wealth of society which is closely related to social, political and economic changes.'
She witnessed a lot of changes because she was the accountant in charge of putting the first eight-listed mainland companies on the stock market in Hong Kong. She also drafted the initial proposal which evolved into the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme. And she oversaw the full convergence of the two sets of accounting and auditing standards in Hong Kong and the mainland.
Changes in accounting and auditing standards, and the demand for the profession's services, mirrored the volatile ties between Hong Kong, the mainland and the rest of the world.
Ms Cheung and her colleagues were preparing for mainland companies to be listed on the Hong Kong stock market in the early 1990s, despite heated political debates over the arrangements under the 'one country, two systems' formula.