A GUIDE
TO CLIENTS
The following are a set of general terms and conditions and principles that govern our dealings with clients. We also issue specific engagement letters with each individual client that are much more specific in scope. In general the following applies to each of our engagement.
Conflicts of interest
If you become aware of a possible conflict of interest between you and another client for whom we act in a particular matter, you should raise it immediately with us. If a conflict of this nature arises, you agree it will be up to us, taking account of accounting constraints, applicable professional rules and your and the other client’s interests and wishes to decide whether we should continue to act for both parties, for one only, or for neither.
Confidentiality
We owe a common duty of care with respect to confidential information given to us. As we owe the same duty of confidentiality to others who are, or have been our clients, we will be under no duty to disclose to you, or use for your benefit, any confidential information that we currently have, or may obtain, in relation to any other client or third party.
Communications with regulatory authorities
As auditors of the Company we might have a duty to report information about the state of affairs of the Company, without prior consultation or consent from the Company’s management, if the requirement is laid down in laws and regulations (as amended from time to time) and by the relevant authorities. This includes suspicion of money laundering, bribery or other illegal activities, and we may be required to report to the relevant authorities without notification to you or obtain your consent.t
ement.
Use of electronic communication, cloud computing, third party service providers and experts
Electronic communication is widely use and an international accepted form of business communication. However they are often not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free as they can be mis-transmitted, intercepted, amended, lost or destroyed, or contain viruses. These are some of the risks associated with the use of electronic communication. Our firm also leverage the latest internet technologies such as cloud computing and there are risks associated with their use such as unauthorised access to your data on the cloud by hackers; Your access to the software or data might be impeded in cases of servers failure etc. Third party solution providers and other experts are often employed during the course of our engagement. For example couriers, business and realty valuation experts, technical support staff of our software and hardware vendors. They may come into contact with privileged, private and confidential information about the Company that are incidental to the performance of their duties. While every effort has been made to ensure that only vendors of the highest standards are engaged, they operate independently and are not under our direct supervision or control. As our client you are taken to acknowledge and accept these risks of access to your Company’s data and possible loss, agree not to hold our firm or its staff responsible for any loss or liability arising therefrom and agree to indemnify our firm and its staff against any liability arising thereof.
As our client you are taken to acknowledge and accept these risks of access to your Company’s data and possible loss, agree not to hold our firm or its staff responsible for any loss or liability arising therefrom and agree to indemnify our firm and its staff against any liability arising thereof.
Disclosure for promotional purposes
Unless you inform us otherwise, you agree that we may include, in a list of matters which we use for promotional and internal purposes, the fact that we represent you, the names of the parties, the dollar value of the matter (if relevant) and a general description in respect of all matters which have been publicly disclosed on which we represent you.
Limitation of liability
If you have agreed with any other adviser any limitation, we will not be liable for anything you could have claimed from that adviser but could not because of that limitation.
Third parties
The services provided by us to you are solely for your benefit and we accept no responsibility to anyone else. Should you wish to pass any advice we have provided to a third party, we will not accept liability to that third party.
If you ask us to introduce other professional consultants to you, we will endeavour to do so. Unless agreed otherwise, you will be responsible for payment of their fees and charges directly. Any advice given by them will be their responsibility direct to you and not ours, and we shall not be liable for any act or omission by them.
Termination of our relationship
You have the right to end your relationship with us at any time. If you decide to end our relationship, we have the right to exercise a lien over (that is, retain) the deeds, documents, monies and other items held for you until our bills are paid in full.
We have the right to end our relationship with you at any time. Examples of when this may be necessary include:
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If in our opinion a conflict of interest arises
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If any payment due to us, or reasonably required by us on account of fees or expenses, is not made
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If we are unable to obtain full or adequate instructions from you
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If we determine that the relationship of trust and confidence necessary between accountant and client does not exist or
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If we consider that it would be inappropriate, in the light of our professional rules, for us to continue to act.
If we or you decide that we will no longer act for you, you will be responsible for our charges and expenses incurred before termination, plus any further charges and expenses for work necessary to transfer our files to another adviser of your choice.
These terms will continue to be binding on each of us notwithstanding such termination.
Governing laws
These terms and the services we provide to you, are governed by Hong Kong laws. You agree to submit irrevocably to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Courts in the event of any dispute arising between us. If you are a client of our Sydney office, you agree to submit irrevocably to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Australian Courts in state of NSW in the event of any dispute arising between us. You acknowledge that we may bring proceedings against you in other jurisdictions at our option in relation to any such dispute.