CEO Insights Magazine

With its strong finance networks with the rest of the world, Hong Kong truly is Asia’s finance powerhouse, constantly attracting investors around the globe. As one of the biggest pillars of Hong Kong’s economy, the finance sector contributes a major chunk of the city’s GDP. Keeping the growing finance opportunities in the city, accountancy firms across the globe have ventured into the Hong Kong finance market while offering their wide portfolio of services to their clients. An accomplished finance professional with around 16 years of extensive experience in accountancy, Kobe Tang, throughout his career, has held leading positions across various reputed firms before starting his CPA firm TANDEM. Starting in 2014, TANDEM, under Kobe’s inspiring leadership, has been experiencing tremendous growth while aiming to become one of the most recognized CPA firms in the city.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights ASIA, Kobe sheds light on his prior educational and professional background, his leadership approach, and much more.

Give a brief account of your educational as well as professional background and experiences.

I completed my BBA in Accountancy in July 2006 and later, my MSc in Finance in July 2016 from the City University of Hong Kong. I have also done my executive master of business administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in July 2022. I started my career at HLB Hodgson Impey Cheng in February 2007 and gradually grew through the ranks before becoming a Senior Accountant at the firm. Later, I joined SHINEWING (HK) in January 2010 and worked there till November 2011, with my last position held at the firm being that of a Assistant Manager. After that, I joined China Fortune Financial Group as a Finance Manager in May 2012 and worked there till July 2013.

I was a Director at Man Shun Group (Holdings) from January 2017 to April 2019, where my responsibilities included overseeing overall financial accounting and reporting. Later, I also worked as an independent non-executive Director at Optima Automobile Group Holdings from Sep 2019 to Sep 2020, where I was the chairman of the Audit Committee as well as a member of the remuneration committee. Currently, I am a practicing certified public accountant in Hong Kong, and since Dec 2014, working as a Director at TANDEM (HK) CPA.

What inspired you to establish TANDEM? Define TANDEM as an organization and its current position in the market. Iestablished TANDEM to provide a wide range of quality services, such as audit services, company secretarial services, internal control services, and so on, to my clients. TANDEM is a young, energetic, and professional CPA firm specializing in audit engagements in the financial services sector, especially for companies licensed in Securities and Future Commission in Hong Kong. We are also cooperating with Cayman Auditor to perform the Cayman Fund audit engagements in Hong Kong.

The organization name is an extension of my family name, ‘Tan'. TANDEM also represents a group of two or more people acting in conjunction or a bicycle with seats and pedals for two riders, one behind the other. In 2014, we adopted the name with the sole intention of working and growing together as a team while providing strong support to our clients, also known as 'We Concept'.

Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the guidelines or methodologies you follow as a leader?

My leadership approach revolves around the Left-Right Circle concept, developed by Professor Andrew C.F. Chan in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. While the left circle represents the needs of the buyers, the right one represents the edge of the company or the product. I consider my clients, regulators, employees, and social responsibilities as a part of the left circle due to their expectations in the industry as well as the needs of our audit services/performance and put our competence and knowledge in the right circle. To fulfill their needs, we have been constantly upgrading our standards while offering a wide range of services.

What is the future destination you are heading towards?

In the near future, I wish to see TANDEM get recognized as a quality audit service provider with a specialization in finance services in Hong Kong. Through various internship programs, we have also started giving students an insight into our strengths and culture. Apart from that, we are also working on hiring more experienced staff in the financial sector & corporate as well as tax experts to provide tax advisory services to the fund. To enhance our reputation further in the industry, we have also approached the potential fund that invests in crypto assets.

As part of the HK Tech 300 Program, TANDEM has been invited by the City University to help students/ startups solve their problems in the accounting, auditing, and company secretarial aspects. Apart from that, I have also set up Mr. & Mrs. Tang Chi Chiu Scholarship at Hong Kong Baptist University in Oct 2021 with a target to assist and motivate Year 3 local Accounting students with a CGPA of 3.00 or above that have demonstrated active participation in extra-curricular activities and case competitions.

Kobe Tang, Founder, TANDEM (HK) CPA

An accomplished professional with more than 16 years of extensive experience in Accountancy, Kobe Tang has held various senior and leadership positions across reputed organizations before starting his Hong Kong-based CPA firm TANDEM (HK) CPA. He has done his BBA in Accountancy and MSc in Finance, both from the City University of Hong Kong. A strong believer in teamwork, Kobe is married and has two daughters.

Quick Facts: •Hobbies: Playing basketball •Favorite Cuisine: Chinese & Japanese •Favorite Travel Destination: Anywhere with my family •Awards & Recognition: •Hong Kong Most Corporate Awards 2022 by Mythfocus pf publication •HKCT Business Awards 2022 by Hong Kong Commercial Times