The model of electing the President and Vice-Presidents is set in the Professional Accountants Ordinance (PAO). Therefore, legislative amendments are required to change the model. Such amendments require full consultation of all stakeholders. Although the EGM resolution proposed a poll be conducted alongside the Council election, with Council members voting in accordance with the results, however, such an activity could be subject to legal challenge, and may not be enforceable on Council members.
Implementing election reform through legislation ensures that a more structured and transparent approach is followed, although this is a lengthy process. Gaining the support of members for changing the PAO is the first step. The Institute will also seek the support of government and the public to make the changes to the PAO.
It is of paramount importance that the Institute shows that serving the public interest continues to be the primary objective of its regulatory role, as enshrined in the PAO. Any proposed changes to the election framework should not diminish or impair public perception on the Institute’s role to serve the public interest. The proposed election framework retains the necessary checks and balances to demonstrate the commitment of the Institute to continue to remain a regulator serving the public interest. As the statutory body is responsible for licensing and regulating accountancy professionals in Hong Kong, the proposed election framework must ensure that the Institute remains capable of and entrusted in carrying out its key roles:
Some consider that the changes will not affect the Institute’s roles as they do not see any correlation between the Institute’s self- regulatory role and its election framework for the President and Vice-Presidents. Each of the President and Vice-Presidents is only one of the 21-23 members of the Council and they do not possess absolute authority, and are only entitled to cast one vote only in the Council in respect of regulatory matters of the Institute.
Although the Institute, unlike other professional bodies, has at this stage no formal minimum eligibility criteria for the President and Vice-Presidents, beyond being an elected member (under the PAO) and meeting the adequacy and recency requirement of two years on Council (under Council policy), informal requirements are well-established. Formalizing them ensures that the Institute has a process in place to uphold the reputation of the profession. These quality requirements are:
The Council is interested in hearing from members whether these changes are necessary.
The Council has considered a number of nomination models that would enable the election of President and Vice-Presidents by all CPAs and narrowed these down to three possible options.
No decision has been taken about the nomination model to use. Each model has its own pros and cons. Council is keen on hearing the views of members and stakeholders about each of the three models.
Council member is to be ordinarily resident in Hong Kong. The consultation paper therefore proposes that:
Furthermore, to ensure new blood can join the Council, a maximum term of office of twelve years with no cooling off period has been recommended. There are strong views against setting the maximum term of office. Some have argued that it is unnecessary, because as long as members are re-elected back to the Council they remain endorsed by the membership. The Council is therefore keen to hear the views of members and stakeholders on the matter.
