The role of the Director of Audit is to ensure the financial order of the Hong Kong Government and heads the Audit Commission. This role is similar to that of Auditors General or auditors in other jurisdictions. The director reports directly to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
The current and 25th Director of Audit is Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, having assumed the role in July 2022.
# | Name [1] | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|
Auditors General | |||
1 | Adolphus Edward Shelley | 1844 | 1846 |
2 | Lieut-Col William Caine | 1846 | 1854 |
3 | William Thomas Mercer | 1854 | 1858 |
4 | William Hepburn Rennie | 1858 | 1870 |
5 | John Gardiner Austin | 1870 | 1879 |
6 | William Henry Marsh, CMG | 1879 | 1887 |
7 | Frederick Stewart, LL.D | 1887 | 1889 |
Auditors | |||
8 | Hilgrove Clement Nicolle | 1890 | 1904 |
9 | Hugh Richard Phelips | 1904 | 1930 |
10 | Percival Lorimer Collision, OBE | 1930 | 1938 |
11 | Arnold Pollard | 1938 | 1948 |
Directors of Audit | |||
12 | Percival Henry Jennings, CBE | 1948 | 1955 |
13 | Frank Ernest Lovell Carter, CBE | 1955 | 1959 |
14 | William John Dupre Cooper, CBE | 1959 | 1965 |
15 | Denis George Briton, OBE | 1965 | 1970 |
16 | Percy Thomas Warr | 1970 | 1975 |
17 | Gordon Evershed Lyth, OBE | 1975 | 1982 |
18 | Norman Bertram Stalker, OBE | 1982 | 1988 |
19 | Robert Jeffrey Hutt, OBE | 1988 | 1992 |
20 | Brian George Jenney, OBE | 1992 | 1995 |
21 | Dominic Chan Yin-tat, SBS | 1995 | 2003 |
22 | Benjamin Tang Kwok-bun, GBS | 2003 | 2012 |
23 | David Sun Tak-kei, GBS | 2012 | 2018 |
24 | John Chu Nai-cheung, JP | 2018 | 2022 |
25 | Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, JP | 2022 | Incumbent |
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms. It primarily provides assurance, tax, information technology services, consulting, and advisory services to its clients.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1983, an international treaty lodged at the United Nations. This government replaced the former British Hong Kong Government (1842–1997). The Chief Executive and the principal officials are appointed by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Government Secretariat is headed by the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, who is the most senior principal official of the Government. The Chief Secretary and the other secretaries jointly oversee the administration of Hong Kong, give advice to the Chief Executive as members of the Executive Council, and are accountable for their actions and policies to the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following:
William Thomas Mercer (Chinese: 孖沙; Sidney Lau: Ma1 Sa1) (17 October 1821 – 23 May 1879) was a British colonial administrator who served in Hong Kong from 1844 to 1866.
Director of Audit may refer to:
John Gardiner Austin was a British colonial administrator. He was Lieutenant-Governor of British Honduras 1864–1867, and Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1868 to 1879, acting as Administrator of the colony in 1877.
Queen Elizabeth School, or QES and QE for short, is a secondary school in Hong Kong. The school was the first English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) (Anglo-Chinese) co-educational secondary school founded by the Government of Hong Kong. It is located on a mound at the boundary of Sai Yee Street and Prince Edward Road West in Mong Kok, Kowloon.
The Commission of Audit is the auditor for the government of Macau to aid accountability by conducting independent audits of the government operations. The office has similar functions to auditors in other jurisdictions, but the Commissioner reports directly to the Chief Executive of Macau, not to Legislative Council of Macau and therefore lacks independence from political interference.
The Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China is the National Olympic Committee of Hong Kong. As such it is a separate member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Olympic Council of Asia. The current president is Timothy Fok. The headquarters building is called the Hong Kong Olympic House, located beside Hong Kong Stadium.
The Audit Commission (AC) is one of the oldest government departments of the Government of Hong Kong, known as Audit Department before July 1, 1997. The Director of Audit is appointed by the Chief Executive. The Director reports to the Chief Executive, not the Legislative Council. Its main functions are "to provide independent, professional and quality audit services to the Legislative Council and public sector organisations in order to help the Government enhance public sector performance and accountability in Hong Kong." According to the Audit Ordinance the Director of Audit “has wide powers of access to the records of departments”, “can require any public officer to give an explanation and to furnish such information as he thinks fit to enable him to discharge his duties” and “is not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority in performing his duties and when exercising his powers under the Ordinance.”
A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subsequent to a government budget audit. Typically, the government is required to report back to parliament on PAC recommendations within a specified period, usually two to six months. More often than not, opposition members chair PACs in the commonwealth. Based on their findings, PACs often make recommendations to government ministries requiring that they change certain policies and procedures to improve their operations.
An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations.
Accountancy in Hong Kong is regulated by the HKICPA under the Professional Accountants Ordinance. The auditing industry for limited companies is regulated under the Companies Ordinance, and other Ordinances such as the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the Listing Rules, etc.
The constituent departments of the State Council are the principal units of State Council of the People's Republic of China. Types of departments include ministries, commissions, the People's Bank of China and the National Audit Office.
Benjamin Tang, GBS is a former Director of Audit with the Audit Commission of Hong Kong.
David Sun Tak-kei, GBS, JP was Director of Audit of Hong Kong, a "principal official" position, between 2012 and 2018, and was the president of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants between 2003 and 2007.
Audit Commission can refer to:
Hilgrove Clement Nicolle was a British civil servant, who served as the Auditor General of Cyprus (1883-1889), the Auditor for Hong Kong (1890-1904), and the Treasurer of Ceylon (1904-1908).
Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, is a Hong Kong accountant and politician who is Director of Audit. To take up the role, from 1 July 2022, he resigned as a Legislative Councillor in the Election Committee constituency (ECC) after less than six months in office. The ECC was then newly created under the electoral overhaul imposed by Beijing.