Professional Services
Sector Overview
Thanks to the prosperous financial services sector in Hong Kong, opportunities abound for business and professional services including but not limited to accounting, consultancy, education and training, human resources, legal, etc. These finance-related professional services providers, strategically located at Hong Kong - a global financial centre and Asia’s leading business hub - leverage their professional expertise and international experience to cater to the needs of their clients from around the globe. [1]
Accounting
- The accounting profession deals with more than numbers. Certified Public Accountants (CPA) firms not only provide audit and tax advisory services, but are also engaged extensively in the provision of business consulting services to their clients in the private and public sectors.
- According to Statistical Digest of the Services Sector published by Census and Statistics Department, the number of certified public accountants reached 46,441 as of 2020. The profession keeps gaining momentum and growing, reflecting opportunities from regional development, including in Mainland China.
Legal
- As a major international financial centre with vibrant capital markets, Hong Kong attracts a tremendous number of Mainland and foreign market participants to invest, raise funds, and seek growth opportunities through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), driving strong demand for legal services to support such transactions. Across the broad spectrum of capital markets transactions, M&As and litigation, internal legal departments of corporations and financial institutions and lawyers in both local and international law firms all have their respective roles to play in these matters.
- With the regulatory emphasis that has been placed upon counter-financing of terrorism and anti-money laundering, corporations and financial institutions have been stepping up efforts and resources devoted to compliance matters. Breaches (inadvertent or otherwise) of these regulations and rules may mean that corporations and financial institutions will be the subject of investigations and prosecutions.
- Legal practitioners play an active role by advising their clients what the legal position is, help them resolve their disputes in a solution-oriented fashion and guide them through internal and external investigations.