The ICAC would like to express its appreciation to the “Independent Review Committee on ICAC’s Regulatory Systems and Procedures for Handling Official Entertainment, Gifts and Duty Visits” (Independent Review Committee) for conducting a thorough review on the Commission’s relevant systems and procedures, and offering some valuable recommendations.

Throughout the review, ICAC officers of various ranks have rendered full assistance to the Committee to facilitate its work.

ICAC’s Response

A. On non-compliances and short-comings

The ICAC has taken note of the non-compliances and short-comings stated in the report. The Commission will follow up promptly with the improvement measures.

We will swiftly rectify those non-compliances and short-comings which are related to the current systems or long-standing practices. As for individual cases which might involve violation of rules and regulations, we will pursue and conduct further invest igations.

In addition, we will clarify with the Government as soon as practicable the rules governing the use of the Commissioner’s “personal accountable entertainment allowance”, which is part of his terms of appointment.

In the past, individual officers’ interpretations on some provisions in the ICAC’s Commission Standing Order (CSO) might have deviated from the official ones. Therefore, we have issued supplementary guidelines to clarify them. We have also reminded all our colleagues to strictly comply with all the rules and regulations in the CSO a nd all relevant guidelines.

B. On the recommendations in the report

The ICAC accepts all the recommendations made by the Independent Review Committee. New guidelines were issued in May and June this year to tighten up control on the spending on entertainment, bestowing of gifts and overseas duty visits.

We will also implement as soon as practicable recommendations on procedural and system enhancements, such as introducing a computerised system for online processing of applications for entertainment reimbursements, as well as extending internal audits to the whole Commission in order to strengthen internal monitoring.

Meanwhile, the ICAC will conduct a comprehensive review on all the provisions in the CSO. We will also report to the Advisory Committee on Corruption in its next meeting all the official entertainments hosted by the current Commissioner that exceed the c eilings with details, list of standard gifts to be presented at official functions, as well as details of any non-standard gift that has been given out.

C. Conclusion

I wish to point out that some of the non-compliances mentioned in the report were the personal decisions of an individual officer, and in no way represent the values of ICAC officers. From what I have observed in the past one year, I notice that ICAC off icers have a very high standard of integrity. As the Independent Review Committee has concluded, many ICAC officers are very conscientious of their mission and have conducted themselves with discipline. They are highly rule-compliant and they always adh ere to the principle of frugality when using public funds.

I truly believe that the ICAC will resume good corporate governance when the improvement measures and the recommendations have been fully implemented. I sincerely hope that the public will continue to trust and support the ICAC, and we welcome all strata of the community to continue to monitor our work.

Lastly, I would like to thank the Independent Review Committee again for pointing out the non-compliances and short-comings of the ICAC and providing their recommendations. The Commission has learned a lesson and we will do our best to strengthen our int ernal system.