In the media

Eight publicly funded Hong Kong universities have signed three-year accountability agreements with the government, increasing oversight of budgets and university operations. Experts warn that, while the agreements aim to improve transparency and performance indicators, they may also reduce university autonomy by pressuring institutions to align with government priorities.

University officials at Hong Kong Polytechnic University – a publicly funded institution – have been scrambling to explain its use of companies registered in secretive offshore tax havens, after revelations in the Panama Papers that it set up two companies offshore to channel funds. The university, known locally as PolyU, had not declared in any of its financial reports that it set up two companies in the British Virgin Islands in 2012 and 2013 as wholly owned subsidiaries of the university, raising questions about its financial transparency and reporting.