Professional Accountants Ordinance

(1)
Subject to this section, any person
who—
(a)
being summoned to attend as a witness or to produce a document or other
                    thing under
section
                    36(1
)(
b)
of the pre-amended Ordinance, refuses or fails to do so or to
                    answer any question put to him by the Disciplinary Committee;
(Amended
14 of 1985 s. 13
;
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(b)
fraudulently procures himself or any other person to be registered by means
                    of any misleading, false or fraudulent representation or statement, either oral
                    or in writing;
(c)
makes or causes to be made any falsification in the register or in any
                    matter relating to the register;
(d)
personates or represents himself as being the person referred to in any
                    certificate or document presented to the Council or the Disciplinary
                    Committee;
(e)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(f)
falsely takes or uses any name, initials, title, addition or description
                    implying that he is qualified to be registered as a certified public accountant;
(Amended
23 of 2004 ss. 49
&
54
;
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(g)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(h)
not being a certified public
accountant—
(i)
knowingly permits the use of or uses in connection with his business,
                        trade, calling or profession the description “professional accountant”,
                        “certified public accountant” or “certified accountant”, or the characters
                        “專業會計師”, “會計師” or “註冊會計師”, or any written words, initials or abbreviations
                        of words intended to cause, or which may reasonably cause, any person to
                        believe that the person using the same is a certified public accountant;
                        or
(ii)
uses after or in conjunction with his name the initials “CPA”;
(Replaced
23 of 2004 s. 49
)
(ha)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(i)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(ia)
being a certified public accountant who does not hold a practising
                    certificate, carries on a business, trade or profession in a name or
style—
(i)
otherwise than his own name without any addition as registered under
section 22(2)
; and
(ii)
which includes the description “certified public accountant”, the
                        initials “CPA” or the characters “會計師”,
(Added
23 of 2004 s. 49
. Amended
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(j)-(l)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction
                to a fine at
                level 4 and to imprisonment for 12 months.
(Amended
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(2)
Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to the use by any member of any body
                or institute of accountants outside Hong Kong, not being a certified public
                accountant, of any description or initials which he is entitled to use under the
                constitution of that body or institute if by such use he does not represent that he
                is a certified public accountant or is entitled to practise as a certified public
                accountant (practising).
(Amended
23 of 1998 s. 2
;
23 of 2004 ss. 49
&
54
)
(3)
No person shall be required to answer any question or produce any document or
                other thing which, in the opinion of the Disciplinary Committee, may tend to
                incriminate him; and a witness shall, in respect of any evidence given by him before
                the Disciplinary Committee, be entitled to the same privileges to which he would be
                entitled if he were giving evidence before a court.
(4)
(Repealed
41 of 2021 s. 127
)
(5)
(Repealed
15 of 2013 s. 4
)
(6)
To avoid
doubt—
(a)
subsections
(1
)(
a)
and (d) and (3) apply in relation to a
                    complaint that is dealt with by a Disciplinary Committee because of the
                    regulations made under
Part 8
of the AFRC Ordinance;
(b)
without limiting the application of the 2021 Amending Ordinance on and
                    after the 2021 Ordinance commencement date, subsection
(1
)(
b)
and (c)
                    applies in relation to any act done by a person before that date despite any
                    amendments effected by the 2021 Amending Ordinance; and
(c)
nothing in this subsection limits the application of
section 23
of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (
Cap.
                        1
).
(Added
41 of 2021 s. 127
)