The General Office of the Ministry of Finance ("MOF") has recently issued the Circular on Working Effectively on 2018 Annual Registration of Accounting Firms (the "Circular") and the Circular on Working Effectively on 2018 Annual Registration of Accounting Firms with Securities Qualifications.
The Circular reads that, 2018 annual registration of accounting firms will be made online, adding that the registration shall be completed on the official website for the management of accountants and certified public accounts(CPAs) between March 1, 2019 and May 31, 2019. According to the Circular, the annual registration requires accounting firms to report information in five respects, including "a brief description of the current registration", and their branches to submit three types of information, such as "information justifying the continuous satisfaction of practicing licensing requirements on accounting firms' branches". In addition, the Circular explicitly states that, accounting firms shall provide and submit the required information in the format shown on the system, after logging into the said official website for the management of accountants and CPAs. All provincial departments of finance shall carefully verify and check registration materials submitted by accounting firms (as well as their branches), and deal with the failure of accounting firms (or their branches) to continuously meet practicing licensing requirements or other problems, if any, in accordance with relevant provisions set forth in the policy document (Order of the Ministry of Finance No.89).