ICAC keeps corruption under control through effective law enforcement and timely preventive work
2005-1-19
The ICAC will continue to adopt a proactive investigative strategy to unearth corruption, and offer timely prevention services to both the government and private sectors to ensure Hong Kong will remain one of the world's cleanest cities, said ICAC Commiss ioner, Mr Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, at a press briefing today (Wednesday).
Reviewing the Commission's work in the past year and announcing its major initiatives, Mr Wong noted that a total of 3,746 corruption reports, excluding election-related complaints, were received last year, representing a decrease of 13 per cent when comp ared to 2003.
"While the number of reports concerning government departments fell by 17 per cent to 1,286, we remain to be concerned with incidences of misuse of authority in awarding contracts and involvement of individual law enforcement officers in illegal activitie s," said Mr Wong.
Mr Wong said the ICAC and the Civil Service Bureau would jointly organize a forum in June for senior government officers and business leaders to share experience on ethical management.
This initiative will take the ICAC's two educational programmes –'96 the "Civil Service Integrity Entrenchment Programme" and the "Business Ethics Promotion Programme" –'96 a step further.
Under the two programmes, 25 government departments have been visited and some 500 listed companies have been approached in 2004, in a bid to help them formulate preventive strategies.
This year the ICAC will also help the Government Logistics Department set up an effective monitoring mechanism on direct purchases, and assist various works departments in strengthening their guidelines on staff integrity.
The Commission will also proactively assist non-government bodies receiving substantial government subventions to adopt corruption prevention measures.
In the private sector, corruption reports recorded a 12 per cent drop to 2,176.
Last year, the financial and insurance industry was among those sectors that attracted a substantial number of complaints. The majority of them were related to corruption-facilitated financial frauds, such as bribing financial advisers or accounting staf f to inflate business turnover to facilitate listing, manipulation of company share prices, misappropriating company funds, or credit fraud.
Mr Wong noted that during the year, the Commission's Financial Investigation Section conducted financial investigations in relation to 1,305 transactions, involving over $1.4 billion in total.
Seventy-three per cent of those defendants charged in completed private sector cases last year were management executives or professionals, Mr Wong added.
During the year, the Commission made recommendations on the company listing procedures under the Dual Filing System of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, and the Securities and Futures Commission to enhance existing procedures.
Mr Wong noted that the ICAC would further promote ethical practices amongst sponsors or intermediaries involved in company listings, such as investment banks.
To cope with the increasingly transnational corruption crime and exchange anti-corruption experience with other agencies, the ICAC would organise an international anti-corruption symposium in early 2006 to strengthen liaison and co-operation with the Main land and overseas law enforcers, Mr Wong added.
Reviewing the Commission's work in the past year and announcing its major initiatives, Mr Wong noted that a total of 3,746 corruption reports, excluding election-related complaints, were received last year, representing a decrease of 13 per cent when comp ared to 2003.
"While the number of reports concerning government departments fell by 17 per cent to 1,286, we remain to be concerned with incidences of misuse of authority in awarding contracts and involvement of individual law enforcement officers in illegal activitie s," said Mr Wong.
Mr Wong said the ICAC and the Civil Service Bureau would jointly organize a forum in June for senior government officers and business leaders to share experience on ethical management.
This initiative will take the ICAC's two educational programmes –'96 the "Civil Service Integrity Entrenchment Programme" and the "Business Ethics Promotion Programme" –'96 a step further.
Under the two programmes, 25 government departments have been visited and some 500 listed companies have been approached in 2004, in a bid to help them formulate preventive strategies.
This year the ICAC will also help the Government Logistics Department set up an effective monitoring mechanism on direct purchases, and assist various works departments in strengthening their guidelines on staff integrity.
The Commission will also proactively assist non-government bodies receiving substantial government subventions to adopt corruption prevention measures.
In the private sector, corruption reports recorded a 12 per cent drop to 2,176.
Last year, the financial and insurance industry was among those sectors that attracted a substantial number of complaints. The majority of them were related to corruption-facilitated financial frauds, such as bribing financial advisers or accounting staf f to inflate business turnover to facilitate listing, manipulation of company share prices, misappropriating company funds, or credit fraud.
Mr Wong noted that during the year, the Commission's Financial Investigation Section conducted financial investigations in relation to 1,305 transactions, involving over $1.4 billion in total.
Seventy-three per cent of those defendants charged in completed private sector cases last year were management executives or professionals, Mr Wong added.
During the year, the Commission made recommendations on the company listing procedures under the Dual Filing System of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, and the Securities and Futures Commission to enhance existing procedures.
Mr Wong noted that the ICAC would further promote ethical practices amongst sponsors or intermediaries involved in company listings, such as investment banks.
To cope with the increasingly transnational corruption crime and exchange anti-corruption experience with other agencies, the ICAC would organise an international anti-corruption symposium in early 2006 to strengthen liaison and co-operation with the Main land and overseas law enforcers, Mr Wong added.