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Hong Kong SAR, China
The IAD Legal Framework in Hong Kong SAR, China The various agencies responsible for facets of the IAD system in Hong Kong SAR, China, were established in separate laws. The two most important entities with IAD functions are the CSB and the Corruption Prevention Department of the ICAC. However, the IAD system in Hong Kong SAR, China, is a highly decentralized system that relies heavily on individual agencies to implement and administer tailored conflict-of-interest guidelines and to receive and analyze the income and asset declarations of filers working within those individual agencies. Despite this decentralization, the CSB is the lead agency involved in the administration of the IAD system, which it refers to as a “declaration of investments system for civil servants.” The principles and requirements of these declarations are outlined in CSB Circulars No. 2/2004 and No. 8/2006. The government’s policy aims to strike a balance between a civil servant’s right to private investment and privacy and the upholding of civil service impartiality and accountability. The economy’s civil servants are free to make private investments so long as such investments do not lead to conflicts of interest with official duties and responsibilities. Despite the robust reputation for anticorruption measures enjoyed by Hong Kong SAR, China, its IAD system is a recent creation and one that is targeted solely at identifying and preventing possible conflicts of interest for civil servants. As such, the famous anticorruption prowess of the ICAC plays a secondary role in the administration of the IAD system. That said, the Corruption Prevention Department of the ICAC played a vital role in shaping the structure of the IAD system and provides ongoing advice to the CSB on implementation of the system pursuant to its powers under the POBO (Sections 3, 4, and 10) and the Misconduct in Public Office Ordinance. A key element of the Corruption Prevention Department’s role in the IAD system is the production of guidelines for civil servants to help them complete their declarations of investments. This is particularly important because of the complexity posed by the concept of a conflict of interest; providing detailed instructions to declarers enables them to identify all covered investments that must be declared. The CSB, in turn, works closely with the ICAC to produce these guidelines, and at times serves as an intermediary between the individual agencies and the ICAC to learn from the experiences of various agencies and recommend possible changes to the structure of the declaration system or ICAC controls on corruption. However, according to the law, it is ultimately the responsibility of the individual agencies to adopt binding regulations that govern conflicts of interest within their own agency.
Coverage of Officials Under CSB rules, public officials are designated as one of two types—Tier I or Tier II—both of which are required to declare their investments (table 4.1). Holders of public office who have access to sensitive information or who are Income and Asset Disclosure • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9796-1