• A set of financial control policies and procedures sets out the levels of authority and delegation of administration, financial and management functions. Matters covered include appointment of consultants, fee collection, investment, purchasing and budgeting process.
• We adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board for reporting and disclosure of financial statements.
• Our financial statements are audited by an external firm. The audited statements are then approved by the Board (upon recommendation by the Audit Committee) and signed by our chairman and CEO. We publish our financial statements every three months in our quarterly reports and a full-year account in our annual report.
• Each year, budgets are submitted to the FS for approval and tabled before the Legislative Council (LegCo) after consideration by the Budget Committee and the Board.

During the year, we attended meetings of the LegCo’s Panel on Financial Affairs to explain to its members issues of public interest and policy initiatives. We also discussed draft legislation at meetings held by the designated bills committees and sub-committees.

To assess whether our systems of internal control set out in the various manuals are adhered to and to evaluate and enhance adequacy of these procedures, we appoint an external audit firm to conduct annual internal control reviews. The focus of the review has to be approved by the Audit Committee annually.

• Procedures are in place to ensure that complaints or grievances against the SFC, or an SFC employee, or those pertaining to public interest or discrimination are handled in an efficient and transparent way.
• Reports of improper practices of the SFC or our staff can be made to us under our public interest grievance procedures. These procedures are posted on the SFC site to assist individuals who are engaged by or work at the SFC to report cases in a constructive and confidential manner.
• Separate complaint handling procedures are established to handle dissatisfaction with the way the SFC or our staff have carried out their duties. The relevant procedures are also posted on the SFC Web site to give the public guidance.

We consult the public before introducing any regulatory changes as required by the relevant provisions of the SFO. Comments received, our responses to the comments, details of modifications to the draft rules and subsequent conclusions are published on the SFC Web site.

As part of our ongoing effort to keep our stakeholders and the public informed, we take the initiative of reporting our key regulatory and organisational activities as well as financials on a quarterly basis. We also report our latest regulatory actions through news releases and post updates on the SFC Web site.