Complaints
The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) is vested with the power to regulate the accountancy profession. An effective regulatory regime of the accountancy profession is crucial for the business community and is essential for maintaining Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.
| Who can you complain about? | What can you complain about? |
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Possible misconduct Examples of misconduct include:
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Non-compliance with accounting standards or other requirements (e.g. Listing Rules and Companies Ordinance, etc.) in the financial reports of listed entities |
If you acquired information about the alleged wrongdoing or misconduct as an employee working under a CPA, an auditor registered with or recognized by the AFRC or a listed entity, or through working with them, or from sources close to them, you may make a whistleblowing report to the AFRC.
It should be noted that mathematical errors, typographical or grammatical mistakes, and/or presentation issues with minimal financial impact on the financial statements would not be considered pursuable matters.
Furthermore, the AFRC would not assess matters that are vexatious, misconceived or contain elements of bad faith.
The AFRC does not have the authority to interfere, adjudicate, or intervene in commercial disputes such as fee disputes, breach of contract, partnership disputes, and shareholder disputes.
Accurate, complete information is required to properly assess allegations of misconduct or non-compliance. Therefore, we encourage you to provide:
- Full name and contact information of the CPA, practice unit and its registered responsible persons, recognised PIE auditors, and/or entity concerned;
- Description of the alleged misconduct or non-compliance in chronological order;
- Relevant supporting documents or records; and
- Your name and contact details.
The following factors will assist the AFRC when assessing your complaint:
- Clear, concise explanation of the allegations
- Matters involving misconduct or non-compliance with a material impact
- Allegations that are substantiated by sufficient, appropriate evidence
Complaints that are unreasonable, persistent or repetitive can place strain on our complaint handling process. If a complainant persists in pursuing his/her complaint after being notified of the AFRC’s assessment decision but fails to provide any new and relevant supporting information/evidence, the AFRC may not respond to further correspondence from the complainant on the matter. The complainant will be notified of this arrangement and the reasons for this arrangement in writing.
For more information, please refer to Complaint Guidelines.
Email address: [email protected]
Mailing Address:
‘Complaints’
Attn: Investigation and Compliance Department
Accounting and Financial Reporting Council
10/F, Two Taikoo Place
979 King's Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
