City auditor ‘suppressed free press’ in Hong Kong, claim democracy campaigners

A City accounting giant has been accused of “actively participat[ing] in the suppression of free press” in Hong Kong by pro-democracy campaigners.

BDO has become embroiled in a legal tussle over allegations it aided a crackdown on free speech.

The company, which has a significant presence in the UK, has been accused of being “complicit” in alleged human rights abuses in a row over the closure of one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy newspapers.

The case centres on publisher Next Digital, a defunct media group owned by jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Next was forced to shut down its popular Apple Daily newspaper under national security laws and later fell into liquidation in 2021 after the Hong Kong government froze its bank accounts.

Mr Lai, a vocal critic of China’s Communist Party, and several other of the tabloid’s senior executives have since been imprisoned by Hong Kong authorities.

Mark Clifford and Gordon Crovitz, two former directors of Next Digital, have filed a complaint with the UK government alleging that BDO “acted as a quasi-governmental agency at the behest of the (Hong Kong government), with no judicial oversight”.

The complaint, which has been made to the Department of Business and Trade, alleges that BDO breached rules set out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

These state that multinationals must “prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their business operations.”

Mr Clifford and Mr Crovitz claim BDO “enabled” human rights abuses after its managing director allegedly worked on behalf of the Hong Kong government in violation of international guidelines.

They claim Clement Chan, managing director of BDO’s assurance department in Hong Kong, was personally appointed by officials as a “financial inspector” to investigate the affairs of Next Digital.

This role allegedly gave Mr Chan powers to force Next Digital directors to face recorded interviews and hand over documents or face criminal sanctions including prison time.

Mr Chan’s interim findings are said to have influenced the government’s decision to wind up Mr Lai’s media group.

According to their complaint, Mr Clifford and Mr Crovitz claim that Mr Chan and BDO’s Hong Kong office acted without “judicial oversight” at the behest of officials.

Mr Clifford and Mr Crovitz demanded that BDO review its relationship with the Hong Kong government, including severing the office from the firm’s global network.

It also urged BDO apologise to its clients, employees and Hong Kong’s citizens for its role “censoring the free flow of information that had made Hong Kong among the most successful and admired economies in the world”.

Mr Chan has since claimed that BDO was not appointed as an inspector, but that he received a “personal appointment” by Hong Kong’s financial secretary to investigate but not liquidate Next Digital.

BDO told Reuters that it “cannot provide further information” given the confidentiality obligations under OECD rules for UK complaints.

BDO is the world’s fifth largest network of independent accounting, tax and advisory firms.

Mr Clifford previously worked as editor-in-chief of Hong Kong newspapers South China Morning Post and The Standard, while Mr Crovitz served as Dow Jones Asia chairman and publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

They are now based in New York, with Mr Clifford claiming he was forced to abandon his Hong Kong home in fear of “arbitrary arrest”.

BDO, the Hong Kong government and Britain’s Department of Business and Trade were contacted for comment.