The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has been partnering with the Hong Kong Institute of Directors (HKIoD) for years in promoting corporate governance and ethical leadership. HKBEDC will serve as the supporting organisation of “Directors of The Year Awards 2019” and “Directors’ Symposium 2019”.

The theme of the events is “Embracing Innovation for Sustainable Growth”. The “Directors of The Year Awards 2019” aims to recognise outstanding boards and directors as well as to promote good corporate governance and director professionalism. Companies and individual directors are invited to submit their nominations to HKIoD by 31 July (Wed) 5:00pm.

The “Directors’ Symposium 2019” will be held on 17 September (Tue) at the HKEX Connect Hall. Directors, senior executives and professionals are encouraged to join the Symposium to gain insights from speakers on how to exercise creativity to innovate solutions that make a meaningful impact to business and society. Early bird registration is available on or before 16 August (Fri).

For enquiries of the above events, please contact HKIoD at 2889-9986 or email to dya@hkiod.com (for the Awards) / symposium@hkiod.com (for the Symposium).

Some business operators may offer gifts and hospitality to their business associates to maintain good relationship and expand the company’s network. Is there anything we should watch out for when offering business gifts?

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has recently produced a feature article to decipher the legal and ethical concerns behind offering gifts and give “smart” tips to SMEs for conducting their business ethically. Please click here to view the article.

HKBEDC maintains a “SME Corruption Prevention Network” comprising over 70 trade associations of different industries. Corruption prevention information is shared with their members regularly. Trade or business associations interested in joining the Network are welcome to contact us at 2587-9812.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre continues to serve as a supporting organisation for the Annual Banking Conference (Conference) this year and encourages banking executives and related professionals to join the event.

The Conference is an annual event organised by HKIB. With the theme “The New Future of Banking and Bankers – Greater Bay Area and Digitalisation”, this year’s event will focus on the digital innovations and policies adjustments in the banking industry, including the latest technological advancements and the national Greater Bay Area masterplan, which offer exciting opportunities to the financial services sector. It will dive deep into these new changes and discuss on how to implement and take advantage of these fundamental changes to the banking industry as banking evolves over the next decade.

Details of the event as below:

• Date: 26 September 2019 (Thursday)

• Time: 9:00am to 5:15pm

• Venue: N100 Series (New Wing), Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

• HKIB CPD / SFC CPT: 3 hours for the Morning session and 2.5 hours for the Afternoon session

• Registration: Click here

Please visit the event website for details and early bird enrolment by 30 June 2019. For enquiries, please call HKIB at 2153 7800 or email to bankingconference@hkib.org.

Striving to promote business and professional ethics, the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) takes every opportunities to share with local and international fellows on our integrity initiatives.

On 24 May, Professor Cliff SUN, Chairman of the Business Ethics Development Advisory Committee, chaired a plenary session on “Building an Integrity Culture” at the 7th ICAC Symposium during which the work of the HKBEDC was shared with over 500 representatives from more than 50 jurisdictions. Speakers from the World Bank, the Ministry of Justice of Estonia and the Accountability Lab Global together with the ICAC’s Director of Community Relations also elaborated different innovative strategies for promoting a probity culture in their respective regions. Please click here to revisit the sharing by the prestigious speakers.

Representatives of the HKBEDC also made use of different speaking platforms to expound the anti-corruption laws in Hong Kong and highlight common corruption risks. Two seminars were conducted in May 2019 including one for new members of the Hong Kong Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the other one entitled "Upholding Ethical Governance in Listed Companies" jointly organised with the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association and the Chinese Securities Association of Hong Kong for senior management and professionals. Please contact us if your company or organisation is interested in our service.

Integrity and credibility are the foundations of good business. They also form part of the core value of Hong Kong’s testing and certification (T&C) sector. To maintain a high standard of integrity in the industry, the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) will jointly orgnise a seminar with the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification as well as the Hong Kong Accreditation Service on 19 June 2019 (Wednesday).

The seminar will cover ethical issues in the T&C sector, anti-corruption laws and anti-bribery management system as well as fair trading practice. Details of the seminar as follow:

• Date: 19 June 2019 (Wednesday)

• Time: 2:30 pm to 5:20 pm

• Venue: Conference Hall, 4/F, HKPC Building, 78 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong

• Targets: Practitioners of the T&C industry and parties interested in the topics

• Language: Cantonese (presentation slides maybe in English only

• Programme: Please click here to download the programme flyer

The seminar is free of charge. Please complete the enrolment form and return it by fax (3605-9400) or by email (hkctcseminar_19jun@conceptcoms.hk) on or before 14 June 2018 (Friday). For enquiry, please contact Ms Angela Cheng at 3605-9679.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) has been jointly organising thematic seminars with various professional bodies and trade organisations to promote good governance and professional ethics in the business sector. Some major seminars in May and June 2019 include the following:

For enquiries, please contact the above co-organisers directly, or call the HKBEDC hotline at 2587-9812.

Hong Kong has consistently remained in the band of the top 20 economies with very low levels of corruption in the “Corruption Perception Index (CPI)” published by the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI). The city is ranked the 14th least corrupt place among 180 countries/territories in the CPI 2018.

The ICAC Post took the opportunity to interview Ms Delia Ferreira Rubio, the Chair of TI, during her visit to Hong Kong last month. Ms Ferreira Rubio praised the independence and effectiveness of the ICAC which makes Hong Kong being well-positioned in the CPI over the years. In view of the fight against corruption, Ms Ferreira Rubio also shared some major global challenges and introduced the “4Is” formula in fighting corruption. She emphasised the importance for the society to cultivate a zero tolerance culture against corruption.

Please click here to watch the interview.

The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre continues to serve as a supporting organisation for ACRU 2019, the annual signature event of the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS), for 12 consecutive years. As part of the Centre’s effort in promoting professional ethics, we encourage company secretaries, directors, governance professionals and senior management to join the event on 5 June 2019.

Participants will be able to learn about the latest enforcement issues and regulatory developments directly from prominent speakers from the Companies Registry, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and Securities and Futures Commission. A total of 7 ECPD points will be granted to eligible participants who attended all sessions of the event.

Please visit the event website for details. Early bird enrolment by 15 April 2018 is available.

For enquiries, please call HKICS at 2830-6070 or 2830-6011, or email to ecpd@hkics.org.hk.

The latest issue of the ICAC Post introduces the upcoming ICAC’s TV drama series 2019 and the ICAC Symposium. The Commissioner tells how the ICAC has gained wide community support and international acclaim in the battles against corruption over the past 45 years; while the former Director of Investigation shares reflections on his 35-year anti-graft journey.

Please click here for the 35th issue of the ICAC Post.

2019 marks the 45th anniversary of the ICAC. On 2 March, over 200 members from different business organisations showed their support and attended the ICAC Open Day to gain first-hand knowledge on Hong Kong’s anti-corruption work. Participants were briefed on the work of the ICAC and toured around various ICAC facilities, including the Exhibition Hall, the mock Video Interview Rooms, Identification Parade Suite and the Detention Centre. They also had a close encounter with the unloaded firearms on display.

The annual “All for Integrity” Project co-organised by the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) and the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association (HKCEA) Youth Committee was also held on the same day. About 100 members and their families joined the ICAC Open Day in the morning and were welcomed by Mr Zhu Hua, Vice President of HKCEA and Ms Lily Chung, Executive Director of the HKBEDC. Participants had a fruitful day and parents joining with kids appreciated the opportunity to pass on the probity values to their next generation.