KCP Physical Therapy in Charlotte, NC, is pleased to welcome Ashley Williams to their Ballantyne office. Williams is a board certified physical therapist specializing in pelvic floor physical therapy.
Williams interned with KCP for three years prior to attending Elon University to receive her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. She says that the internship experience was critical in helping to shape her vision of what a physical therapy practice should be. Returning to KCP became her long-term goal.
In addition to her coursework at Elon, Williams sought additional training and certification from Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute. With a special focus on pelvic floor therapy, she will work with patients struggling with incontinence, prolapse, pelvic pain, endometriosis, constipation, chronic pain, pregnancy and post-partum pain, sexual health and wellness issues, and post-operative rehabilitation. Additionally, she is trained in general orthopedic and manual PT, a shared focus within the clinic.
Joy Pfuhl, co-owner of KCP Physical Therapy, says, “We are so excited to have Ashley return! She brings a wonderful energy to our practice. Her expertise in pelvic floor and women’s health is a welcome addition to our services. Anyone who has the pleasure of working with her will be in very capable hands!”
KCP Physical Therapy is located in the Pineville / Ballantyne area of Charlotte. Williams joins veteran physical therapists Joy Pfuhl and Joyce Kight in the practice. In addition to providing orthopedic, manual, and pelvic floor PT, KCP also offers fitness classes on a daily basis.
KCP Physical Therapy Joy Pfuhl 704-541-1191 www.kcpphysicaltherapy.con
Safe Rx® today named Lon von Hurwitz as its Market Access and Policy Director.
Mr. von Hurwitz has broad experience in both non-profit and enterprise level work, with a proven track record in pharmacy, healthcare, and health policy. Mr. von Hurwitz served in various prior roles at GE Healthcare, New Care Diabetes Ventures, Lifeclinic International and World Health Networks, and as National Chairman of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
At Safe Rx, Mr. von Hurwitz will be responsible for market access growth, efficacy data development, and related activities.
“Lon’s expertise in mission driven healthcare and pharmacy work will help prepare us for significant market access growth with payors and self-insured plan sponsors,” said Milton Cohen, Safe Rx President and CEO.
The Company’s award-winning and market-leading locking prescription vial (LPV®) product line is used by pharmacies for controlled substance dispensing, and is a key solution for the opioid epidemic, with applications in both prevention and treatment.
“I’m excited to join the team at Safe Rx and help bring such a compelling intervention to policymakers, payors and plan sponsors,” said Mr. von Hurwitz. “We are at an inflection point for reimbursement growth, and clinicians and patients everywhere are in desperate need of our solution,” he added.
About Safe Rx and Caring Closures International
Caring Closures International (CCI) is transforming public health and consumer product safety with patented innovation modernizing one of the most successful interventions in public health history. CCI’s initial Safe Rx® line of locking prescription vials (LPVs®) are sold into multiple verticals for use in medication safety and pharmacy dispensing, and cut off pilfering (sneaking pills), a leading source of diversion and teen drug misuse in the United States for over a decade. Ultimately, CCI’s cap and closure technology is expected to replace a broad cross section of child-resistant packaging across multiple product categories, updating a proven intervention to help solve several epidemic scale public health crises. For more information, please visit www.safe-rx.com.
Safe Rx Sarah Dennis (720) 219-8798 www.safe-rx.com
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) welcomes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) 2024-25 budget.
The budget introduces a number of measures to boost Hong Kong’s economic growth and promote the continued development of SMEs and start-ups. These measures offer wide-ranging support to help SMEs manage their cash flow and accelerate their transformation, attract high-value added industries, capital and international talent to Hong Kong as well as promote green and digital transformation.
HKTDC Chairman Dr Peter K N Lam said: “At the HKTDC, our mission is to support SMEs and provide them with opportunities to grow and transform. We welcome the HKSAR Government’s initiative to extend the application period and increase the total guarantee commitment for the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme, and make continuous enhancements and inject more funds to the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (“BUD Fund”). Aside from these initiatives, the introduction of enhancement measures for profit tax will also assist SMEs to tackle their capital flow challenges and accelerate their transformation.”
The HKTDC will work closely with the HKSAR Government to further promote Hong Kong’s strengths and eight centre advantages, move towards a green and digital future and create opportunities for Hong Kong’s industries to ensure the continued growth of the city’s economy. We will also reinforce Hong Kong’s important role as a two-way business and investment hub.
The budget reiterated Hong Kong’s role as a leading business platform for the Belt and Road Initiative. The HKTDC’s global network of 50 offices covers the Belt and Road’s main markets, from ASEAN to Africa, from Europe to South America. This year, we will set up two additional consultant offices along the Belt and Road to connect Hong Kong businesses with arising opportunities.
Dr Lam added that the next 10 years will be a “golden decade” for the Belt and Road. The HKTDC will continue to be guided by the eight major steps of the Belt and Road Initiative, as announced by President Xi Jinping in 2023, and leverage our global network and major events to help Hong Kong businesses explore the Belt and Road market.
The HKTDC supports SMEs’ development and expansion via a range of support programmes, including the Transformation Sandbox (T-box), GoGBA one-stop platform and Digital Academy.
In the 2024-25 financial year, we will provide support to SMEs according to four main directions:
Assist SMEs to seize opportunities brought about by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan;
Capture arising opportunities in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and other emerging markets, especially ASEAN and the Middle East;
Help SMEs achieve digital and green transformation; and
Enrich international business people’s stay in Hong Kong, enhance digital offerings in HKTDC exhibitions and conferences, and provide a seamless online and offline experience for event participants.
Media enquiries
Please contact the HKTDC’s Communications & Public Affairs Department:
About HKTDC
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (February 20) welcomed the removal of Hong Kong from the European Union (EU)’s watchlist on tax co-operation in recognition of Hong Kong’s efforts in ensuring that its foreign-sourced income exemption (FSIE) regime is in full compliance with the EU’s relevant requirements.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “As an international financial centre, Hong Kong has all along been supporting international co-operation in combating cross-border tax avoidance. Our refined FSIE regime came into effect on January 1 this year. We are pleased to note that the EU has recognised our efforts in this regard and removed Hong Kong from the watchlist. Hong Kong will continue to comply with international tax standards while maintaining Hong Kong’s tax competitiveness.”
In response to the EU’s inclusion of Hong Kong in its watchlist in 2021, the HKSAR Government introduced in January 2023 a new FSIE regime, under which multinational enterprise entities receiving foreign-sourced dividend, interest, income derived from the use of intellectual properties and disposal gain in relation to shares or equity interests in Hong Kong must satisfy the economic substance requirement to enjoy tax exemption. In December 2022, the EU promulgated an updated Guidance on FSIE Regimes, explicitly setting out disposal gains as a general class of income covered by an FSIE regime and subjecting the taxpayers concerned to the economic substance requirement. Jurisdictions with ongoing FSIE reforms, including Hong Kong, were kept in the watchlist pending completion of the necessary legislative amendments.
In this regard, the HKSAR Government enacted the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Taxation on Foreign-sourced Disposal Gains) Ordinance 2023 last December to refine the FSIE regime by expanding the scope of assets in relation to foreign-sourced disposal gains to cover assets other than shares or equity interests. The refined FSIE regime has come into effect on January 1 this year.
Mr Hui said, “Looking ahead, the HKSAR Government will continue to take forward and implement new policy initiatives to create new impetus for sustainable market development. I am confident that Hong Kong will continue to maintain its favourable business environment and strengthen its status as an international business and trade centre.”
Despite the impact of the global geopolitical situation and high interest rate environment, Hong Kong has remained resilient and continued to strengthen its competitiveness as an international financial centre. Hong Kong enjoys unique advantages, including a simple tax regime, a regulatory regime aligned with major overseas markets, free flow of capital and information, as well as a diversified talent pool. Hong Kong is the only place in the world where the global advantage and China advantage converge in a single city. This unique convergence allows Hong Kong to be China’s gateway to the world’s financial markets and investors.
Hong Kong’s financial market is internationalised. Hong Kong is one of the world’s largest international banking centres, with 73 of the world’s 100 largest banks operating here. In the insurance industry, 11 of the top 20 insurers in the world have been authorised to conduct business in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong also performs well overall in various areas of the financial industry. For example, the asset and wealth management business amounted to $30.5 trillion as of end-2022, with 64 per cent of the funding sourced from non-Hong Kong investors. The asset under management of Hong Kong-domiciled funds recorded net fund inflows of $53.6 billion in the first three quarters of 2023, indicating an increase of more than 215 per cent from that over the same period of 2022. The average daily turnover of exchange traded funds in 2023 reached $11.8 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent.
Our country also provides solid support to Hong Kong’s financial industry. On January 24 this year, the Central People’s Government and the HKSAR Government jointly announced six new measures to deepen the financial co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong. The measures deepen the mutual access between the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong and better serve international investors’ need for liquidity management of investments in the Mainland bond market, thereby further consolidating Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre and a global offshore Renminbi business hub.
Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Snell has been named partner at HFA.
Sarah Snell, Partner at HFA
LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Jan. 16, 2024 – PRLog — HFA has announced that it has newly appointed Chief Operating Officer and Director of Client Accounting & Advisory Services, Sarah Snell Snell, CPA, PSA, PAFM to the position of partner.
With a distinguished career that began in public accounting and transitioned into operations management in 2012, Ms. Snell has become a driving force behind the growth of HFA. As COO she consistently emphasizes the critical role of operations and has significantly contributed to the expansion of HFA, both in terms of services and core values. A passionate advocate of HFA’s mission, Ms. Snell actively promotes five core tenets: People First, Forces Working Together, Exceptional Every Day Every Way, Choose Accountability, and Know the Way, Show the Way, Lead the Way.
Craig Johnson, Chairman of HFA, commends Ms. Snell for her dedication to fostering a culture of participation, growth, and support within the accounting field. “She is always eager to encourage professionals of all ages to hone their talents, investing in the interests of her coworkers by providing insight and connections whenever possible,” notes Johnson.
In recent years, Ms. Snell has focused on leading the growth and development of the Client Accounting and Advisory Services (CAAS) service line at HFA. CAAS encompasses a comprehensive range of financial management and strategic advisory offerings provided by accounting professionals to their clients. By combining technical accounting expertise with a deep understanding of clients’ operations, CAAS aims to provide actionable insights that empower businesses to make informed decisions, optimize financial performance, and navigate complex financial landscapes effectively.
“She brings a unique perspective to our CAAS clients stemming from her accounting background and her years of experience managing our firm’s operations and financial matters. Through Ms. Snell’s leadership, the service line has experienced significant expansion, attracting new clients and solidifying our reputation as industry leaders,” commented Matthew Holman, CPA, Advisory Services Partner.
Beyond her role at HFA, Ms. Snell is currently the national Director of Growth & Membership of CPA Firm Management Association (CPAFMA) and is a past President of the NJ Chapter. CPAFMA, dedicated to empowering CPA firms to thrive, benefits from Ms. Snell’s ability to share resources, tools, knowledge, and implementation strategies for growth among her peers.
Ms. Snell’s commitment to community service extends to her roles as a Community Treasurer and Scout Leader for the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore. Additionally, she serves as a board member and Treasurer for the Junior League of Monmouth County, an organization dedicated to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through effective action and leadership.
HFA applauds Ms. Snell’s multifaceted contributions to both the firm and the community, highlighting her as a dynamic leader shaping the future of the accounting profession.
About HFA HFA, Certified Public Accountants and Advisors, is headquartered in Central New Jersey. Established in 1996, the firm services a diverse client base within the tri-state area providing highly personalized and comprehensive accounting, audit, tax and business consulting services. HFA is headquartered in Lakewood with a satellite office in Red Bank. To learn more, visit https://hfacpas.com (http://www.hfacpas.com/).
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