The
HKICPA
President
Edward
Au
participated
in
the
Asian
Financial
Forum
2025
as
a
panellist
in
a
panel
discussion
titled
Setting
Global
Milestone
in
Sustainability.
He
was
joined
by
other
guest
speakers
to
explore
ways
for
companies
and
market
participants
to
better
understand
the
best
practices,
challenges,
and
opportunities
for
advancing
sustainability
initiatives
globally.
Co-organized
by
the
HKSAR
Government
and
the
Hong
Kong
Trade
Development
Council,
the
two-day
“Asian
Financial
Forum
2025”
commenced
today
at
the
Hong
Kong
Convention
and
Exhibition
Center.
Themed
“Powering
the
Next
Growth
Engine”,
the
Forum
attracted
more
than
3,600
leading
figures
from
finance
and
business
to
participate.
The
event
brought
together
over
100
influential
leaders
from
government,
finance,
and
business
communities
from
all
over
the
world
for
ground-breaking
discussions
and
exchange
of
insights
on
the
global
economy
from
an
Asian
perspective.
The
HKICPA
President
Edward
Au
(left
two)
participated
in
the
Asian
Financial
Forum
2025
as
a
panellist
in
a
panel
discussion
titled
Setting
Global
Milestone
in
Sustainability.
He
was
joined
by
other
guest
speakers
to
explore
ways
for
companies
and
market
participants
to
better
understand
the
best
practices,
challenges,
and
opportunities
for
advancing
sustainability
initiatives
globally.
The
HKICPA
President
Edward
Au
said,
“The
Asian
Financial
Forum
brings
together
leaders
from
political
and
business
communities
and
financial
experts
worldwide,
providing
an
ideal
platform
for
the
HKICPA
to
showcase
its
efforts
in
promoting
sustainable
disclosure
standards
in
Hong
Kong
and
to
gain
an
understanding
on
the
best
practices
in
sustainability
reporting
across
regions.
As
the
sustainability
reporting
standard
setter
of
Hong
Kong,
the
HKICPA
is
committed
to
creating
an
enabling
environment
for
the
successful
implementation
of
the
HKFRS
SDS
and
to
contribute
towards
the
development
of
a
comprehensive
sustainability
disclosure
ecosystem
in
Hong
Kong
to
embrace
new
growth
opportunities.”
The HKICPA published HKFRS SDS in December last year, which are fully aligned with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (ISSB Standards), with an effective date of 1 August 2025. President Edward Au today participated in the panel discussion titled “Setting Global Milestone in Sustainability”, under the Global Spectrum seminar series. He was joined by Janey Lai, CEO of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council, Sue Lloyd, Vice Chair of International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and Justin Wu, Managing Director, Head of Climate Change Asia Pacific, Global Sustainability, HSBC. The panel explored ways for companies and market participants to better understand the best practices, challenges, and opportunities for advancing sustainability initiatives globally. It also underscored the significance of aligning Hong Kong’s sustainability disclosure requirements with ISSB standards, marking a crucial milestone in the development of efficient and resilient capital markets both in Hong Kong and globally.
In the panel discussion, Edward Au stated, “Hong Kong is among the first jurisdictions worldwide to align local sustainability disclosure standards with the international standards, which is critical to maintaining and enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness among global capital markets. The HKFRS SDS, published by the HKICPA and fully aligned with the ISSB Standards, provide a global baseline for sustainability-related financial disclosures, enabling companies to present more consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information to investors.”
He continued, “The accounting profession in Hong Kong is well-experienced in financial reporting, auditing, internal control and risk management. The profession is thus more than capable of providing high quality sustainability reporting and assurance services. Moving forward, the HKICPA is committed to building capacity for the profession and stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the HKFRS SDS and to solidify Hong Kong’s status as a leading international financial centre and a green and sustainable finance hub.”
The HKICPA set up a booth at the venue to present the development journey of HKFRS SDS, the Institute’s efforts in standard setting and capacity building, and other related topics. Participants’ enquiries about the HKICPA’s role in sustainability development were addressed, enhancing their understanding of sustainability disclosures in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the HKICPA also supported the Forum’s InnoVenture Salon. Cyrus Cheung, the Chair of the Sustainability Committee of the HKICPA, met with start-ups to provide one-on-one consultations to address their concerns related to sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) along their entrepreneurial journey.
For details of Asian Financial Forum 2025, please visit website:
https://www.asianfinancialforum.com/conference/aff/en
https://www.hkicpa.org.hk/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-institute-of-certified-professional-accountants
https://www.instagram.com/hkicpa.official/
https://en-gb.facebook.com/hkicpa.official/
Wechat:
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https://www.instagram.com/hkicpa.official/
Hashtag: #HKICPA
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