Two leading Australian accounting bodies claimed to have been misrepresented as supporters of the controversial security law in a Hong Kong newspaper advertisement.

The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) and Institute of Certified Management Accounts, Australia (ICMA) said this week that they were unaware of the use of their names and logos in ads published on Hong Kong newspapers «Wen Wei Po» and «Ta Kung Pao», according to an «AFR» report.

«The use of our logo was not authorized by IPA. It wasn't paid for by IPA. We are looking into to see how it happened,» said a spokesperson for the 37,000-strong international body

«Political commentary is not something we do, not even in Australia where we are strictly apolitical.» 

«Follow All Laws»

Similarly, ICMA's chief executive Janek Ratnatunga claimed to have no knowledge of the placed ad and cited a regional colleague’s decision to «follow all laws».

«Our regional director explained that he must 'follow all laws to maintain our education services license’,» he explained. «The ICMA Australia Council was not made aware of this newspaper advertisement, and maintains that it is apolitical in all such matters.»

Suspect Support?

This is not the first time that reportedly suspicious support for the controversial law has emerged in the financial services industry. Last month, Hong Kong-based offices of Chinese banks and brokerages were allegedly pressured to sign supportive petitions. Though there were claims that such moves would be voluntary, there were multiple cases where the turnout was not undisclosed and staff was asked to record all the supporters and non-supporters. 

«What can you do?» said one human resources officer, referred to only as «Mandy», who was responsible for collecting and checking staff signatures. «I need this job and there will likely be repercussions if you don't follow.»

«My company has been promoting patriotic education since last year,» added another an unnamed mainland Chinese employee who claimed to be from ICBC International. «Anyone who can't stand this has already quit.»