ICAC joins hands with public and business sectors to foster ethical governance
2005-6-16
The ICAC Commissioner, Mr Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, today (Thursday) called upon both the government and business leaders to put ethical governance into practice and remain vigilant against corruption and malpractice.
Mr Wong revealed that there was a seven per cent drop in corruption reports in the first five months of this year, consistent with the declining trend in the past two years.
Among them, reports concerning the private sector fell three per cent to 817 and those related to government departments and public bodies decreased 14 per cent and 11 per cent to 471 and 113 respectively.
In his closing remarks at the Leadership Forum 2005 –'96 Successes through Ethical Governance jointly organised by the ICAC and Civil Service Bureau, the ICAC Commissioner expressed concern over the growing involvement of senior executives and professionals in private sector corruption cases.
"Executive staff, directors and chairmen of companies and their professional advisers, accounted for 52 per cent of the defendants charged by the ICAC in completed private sector cases in 2002. This had increased to 69 per cent in 2003 and 73 per cent in 2004," he said.
Apart from effective law enforcement, Mr Wong said the ICAC also worked closely with business leaders, trade associations and the professionals to strengthen their ethics programmes.
Through co-operation with professional bodies, the ICAC offered integrity training to more than 200 company directors, 1,400 accountants and 1,200 engineers, architects and surveyors under the professional institutes' continuous professional development c ourses.
Mr Wong said while corruption complaints against government departments had dropped significantly from 86 per cent of the total in 1974 to only 34 per cent in 2004, new challenges in integrity management had emerged.
He said prosecutions against officials for misconduct in public office involving abuse of authority, primarily in the procurement of goods and services, and the awarding of contracts to close associates, such as family members, had increased in recent yea rs.
Mr Wong also pointed out that the "undesirable association" between government officials and their work contacts, such as frequent and excessive wining and dining with contractors and suppliers and even money lending, would place the officers in "conflict of interest" situation.
Another area of concern was "supervisory accountability". For example, inadequate or lax supervision of contractors had resulted in substandard workmanship, materials and services, he added.
To promote integrity management and to identify corruption prone areas, the ICAC had established close ties with government departments with integrity training provided to about 20,000 government officers of different ranks and grades every year, said the Commissioner.
At the forum today, Acting Chief Executive, Mr Henry Tang Ying-yen, delivered an opening address before officiating at a lighting ceremony with the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph Wong Wing-ping; ICAC Commissioner, Mr Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, re presentatives of six chambers of commerce and the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.
Dr Tong Daochi, Deputy Director-General of Listed Companies Supervision Department, China Securities Regulatory Commission, China, delivered a luncheon speech entitled " Building Up a Clean Corporate Culture in an Era of Economic Growth and Development: the Role of Corporate Governance ".
The Forum was attended by about 1,000 senior government officials, chairmen and CEOs of business organizations and public bodies, heads of chambers of commerce, trade associations and academics to examine and share experiences of the ethical challenges th ey faced.
It also featured speeches by Mr Joseph Wong, Secretary for Civil Service; Dr Philip Chen, Chief Executive of the Cathay Pacific Airways Limited; Ms Jane Ley, Deputy Director of he United States Office of Government Ethics and Mr Mats Isaksson, Head of the Corporate Affairs Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Mr Wong revealed that there was a seven per cent drop in corruption reports in the first five months of this year, consistent with the declining trend in the past two years.
Among them, reports concerning the private sector fell three per cent to 817 and those related to government departments and public bodies decreased 14 per cent and 11 per cent to 471 and 113 respectively.
In his closing remarks at the Leadership Forum 2005 –'96 Successes through Ethical Governance jointly organised by the ICAC and Civil Service Bureau, the ICAC Commissioner expressed concern over the growing involvement of senior executives and professionals in private sector corruption cases.
"Executive staff, directors and chairmen of companies and their professional advisers, accounted for 52 per cent of the defendants charged by the ICAC in completed private sector cases in 2002. This had increased to 69 per cent in 2003 and 73 per cent in 2004," he said.
Apart from effective law enforcement, Mr Wong said the ICAC also worked closely with business leaders, trade associations and the professionals to strengthen their ethics programmes.
Through co-operation with professional bodies, the ICAC offered integrity training to more than 200 company directors, 1,400 accountants and 1,200 engineers, architects and surveyors under the professional institutes' continuous professional development c ourses.
Mr Wong said while corruption complaints against government departments had dropped significantly from 86 per cent of the total in 1974 to only 34 per cent in 2004, new challenges in integrity management had emerged.
He said prosecutions against officials for misconduct in public office involving abuse of authority, primarily in the procurement of goods and services, and the awarding of contracts to close associates, such as family members, had increased in recent yea rs.
Mr Wong also pointed out that the "undesirable association" between government officials and their work contacts, such as frequent and excessive wining and dining with contractors and suppliers and even money lending, would place the officers in "conflict of interest" situation.
Another area of concern was "supervisory accountability". For example, inadequate or lax supervision of contractors had resulted in substandard workmanship, materials and services, he added.
To promote integrity management and to identify corruption prone areas, the ICAC had established close ties with government departments with integrity training provided to about 20,000 government officers of different ranks and grades every year, said the Commissioner.
At the forum today, Acting Chief Executive, Mr Henry Tang Ying-yen, delivered an opening address before officiating at a lighting ceremony with the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph Wong Wing-ping; ICAC Commissioner, Mr Raymond Wong Hung-chiu, re presentatives of six chambers of commerce and the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.
Dr Tong Daochi, Deputy Director-General of Listed Companies Supervision Department, China Securities Regulatory Commission, China, delivered a luncheon speech entitled " Building Up a Clean Corporate Culture in an Era of Economic Growth and Development: the Role of Corporate Governance ".
The Forum was attended by about 1,000 senior government officials, chairmen and CEOs of business organizations and public bodies, heads of chambers of commerce, trade associations and academics to examine and share experiences of the ethical challenges th ey faced.
It also featured speeches by Mr Joseph Wong, Secretary for Civil Service; Dr Philip Chen, Chief Executive of the Cathay Pacific Airways Limited; Ms Jane Ley, Deputy Director of he United States Office of Government Ethics and Mr Mats Isaksson, Head of the Corporate Affairs Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.