Page 62 - Law Society of Hong Kong MPMC Manual v8 - With checklists (1 March 2018)

Practice Management Course | Checklist 3
Closing a Practice

o Chinese Commercial Code No.
o Date of Birth
o Position
o Mark "X" if Authorised Clerk
o Monthly Salary
o Bonus(es) or other Allowances
o Date of Employment
• Particulars regarding name and directors of any service company –
Schedule 5
4. SUBMIT FINAL ACCOUNTANT’S REPORT
Submit a Final Accountant's Report to the Society no later than 6 months
from the date the firm ceased practice.
Form 1 Accountant’s Report Rules
• Firm name
• Branches (if any)
• Address(es)
• Sole proprietor or partnership?
• Period covered
• Full name(s) of sole proprietor or partners
• Date of commencement/cessation of partners during year
• Whether it is a first or final accountant’s report
• Accountant's statement: In compliance with section 8 of the Legal
Practitioners Ordinance and the Accountant's Report Rules
• Accountant’s full name, firm, address, signature and dated.
Chapter 2 - Accountant's Report Rules
Chapter 15 - Solicitors' Accounts Rules
5. SUBMIT FINAL NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES TO PRACTICE FORM
The Society will send this form to you.
6. APPOINT AN AGENT
• The firm must appoint a firm of solicitors with at least two partners as its
agent to deal with all consequential matters.
• The firm must notify the Society of the names and contact details of its
sole practitioner or all of its partners and of the agent appointed when it
notifies the Society of its intended cessation.
• Change to these contact details must be notified, by the person to whom
it relates, to the Society in writing within 7 days of the change.
7. REPLACEMENT OF AN AGENT
A solicitor who was a principal of the firm as at the date of cessation shall
ensure that:
• Where an agent appointment is terminated for any reason, another firm
of solicitors, with at least 2 partners (the “substitute agent”) is appointed
within 7 days; and
• Any change to the particulars of the agent or the substitute agent is
notified to the Society in writing within 7 days of such change.
8. RETENTION OF FILES
All old physical files must be stored in Hong Kong in order to ensure their
preservation of confidentiality and easy retrieval (Circular no. 12-475 (PA).
9. PRESERVATION OF BOOK OF ACCOUNTS
• Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Cap159F – Solicitors must preserve all
books, accounts and records for at least six years.
• Inland Revenue Ordinance Cap. 112 - See S.22 on "Assessment of
Partnerships" and S.51C on "Business records to be kept"

© The Law Society of Hong Kong (2018) Page 58