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A Disciplinary Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants [12]reprimanded Chan Kwan Ho (membership number F02245) on 16 October 2009 and ordered him to pay a penalty of HK$5,000 due to his failure or neglect to observe, maintain or otherwise apply professional standards issued by the Institute.

In addition, Chan was ordered to pay HK$25,000 towards the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.

The Institute received information about alleged deficiencies in relation to the financial statements of a private company for the years from 1992 to 1998 audited by Chan in March 2003 when he was practising in his own name on a part-time basis. After considering the information available, the Institute lodged a complaint against Chan under section 34(1A) of the Professional Accountants Ordinance.

The Disciplinary Committee found, on Chan’s admission, that he failed or neglected to observe, maintain or otherwise apply the Institute’s then effective Statement 3.101 "Statement of Auditing Standard – Audit Approach" and Statement of Auditing Standards 230 "Documentation,”as he did not adequately plan, control and record his work; and he failed to document matters important in providing evidence to support his audit opinions and did not prepare sufficiently complete and detailed working papers.

Having taken into account the circumstances of the case, the Disciplinary Committee ordered that Chan:

(1) be reprimanded;
(2) pay a penalty of HK$5,000 to the Institute; and
(3) pay HK$25,000 towards the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.
 

Findings of the Disciplinary Committee are available at the Institute’s website [12] under the “Compliance” section.
 

Disciplinary proceedings of the Institute are conducted in accordance with Part V of the Ordinance by a five-member Disciplinary Committee. The majority (three members) of each committee, including the chairman, are non-accountants chosen from a panel of lay persons appointed by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, and the other two members are CPAs.

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