The Independent Commission Against Corruption has pledged to upgrade staff training in legal processes and procedural compliance, and financial investigation. The move is to ensure the commission meets challenges arising from the increasingly complex, globalised and sophisticated nature of corruption-related crimes.

Speaking at an annual press briefing today, Operations Review Committee Chairman Dr Andrew Chuang said given Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre, the ICAC will hone its expertise in investigating cases involving listed companies, which are invariably complex and time consuming.

Despite a 1% drop in the number of corruption reports received in the first 11 months of this year, complaints classified as pursuable rose 3%. With more pursuable reports and the increasingly sophisticated and protracted nature of many of corruption cases, the ICAC says the overall caseload faced by investigators remains heavy.

Of the 3,412 corruption reports received in the first 11 months of this year, 2,067 or 61% concerned the private sector while 1,091 or 32% were against Government departments and 254 or 7% related to public bodies.

Dr Chuang said while corruption reports concerning government departments registered an 8% fall, some areas deserved attention, including the awarding of contracts, accepting of substandard work or service, and lax supervision in works projects.

There is also concern about instances where law enforcement officers have associated with undesirable elements and abused their authority, although the number of cases is small.

Government departments were urged to remain vigilant to minimise corruption opportunities and promote an effective culture of integrity, particularly in supervisory accountability.