The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries

What is a Chartered Secretary? Chartered Secretaries are high ranking professionals who are trained to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance, effective operations, compliance and administration. Highly valued by employers for their ICSA training, Chartered Secretaries are the primary source of advice on the conduct of business. This can span everything from legal advice on conflicts of interest, through accounting advice, to the development of strategy and corporate planning. Chartered Secretaries are employed as chairs, chief executives and non-executive directors, as well as managers and company secretaries (see below).

Career Example: The Company Secretary

The work of a Company Secretary is essential to the direction, governance, administration and management of a company.

Company Secretaries must not only work and interact with the directors, managers and shareholders of their companies - they must also work and interact with the various government and regulatory bodies which regulate the activities of their companies, such as the Registrar of Companies, the Inland Revenue Department, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Core Duties

The daily duties of the Company Secretary are generally wide in scope and may range from administrative duties such as personnel management and the maintenance of company accounts and registers, to duties as diverse as ensuring that the company complies with regulation or advising the directors on good corporate governance practice.

Typical duties include:

Coordinating the production, publication and distribution of company accounts and reports
Communicating with shareholders, regulatory bodies and the Stock Exchange on behalf of the company
Ensuring that the company complies with relevant laws and regulations Organising and facilitating meetings of directors and general meetings of shareholders.
Reviewing current developments in good corporate governance practice in order to advise the directors.

Career Prospects

Given the increasing complexity of the regulatory framework within which companies must operate, and the increasing awareness of the need for good corporate governance, the role of the Company Secretary will become increasingly more important in Hong Kong and China.

Consider the following

The Companies Ordinance requires that companies registered in Hong Kong must have a Company Secretary. Companies cannot be listed on the Stock Exchange without having a qualified Company Secretary.
Laws and regulations governing the operation of companies are sure to become more complex as Hong Kong becomes increasingly more involved in regional and global business and alliances.
There is a shortage of professionally qualified Company Secretaries in Hong Kong.
As the registered number of companies and listing in HK is expected to continue to rise there will be a continuing demand for Company Secretaries.