AABA has learnt that ACCA has been subsidizing students in China for years. To encourage students to register with the Association, ACCA has decided to write-off registration, examinations and exemption fees. However, such decisions are only made after students write to ACCA and show willingness to register with it. Some students have also received help with books.

The Associations' discriminatory policies mean that students from Africa, Asia, the Pacific-basin, Malaysia, Singapore and other places are subsidizing students from China. The ACCA policy of cross-subsidization also contravenes the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules .

ACCA has not disclosed its China policies to members or students. Members have not been asked to approve such discriminatory policies. It has not been disclosed in the in-house magazine or annual report. According to an 'insider', ACCA council has not approved such a policy either. Concerned council members have been fobbed off with comments such as "these are operational and not policy matters". It appears that ACCA bureaucrats are acting unilaterally.

By offering the initial incentives, ACCA hopes to expand its empire in China. However, one has to question the desirability of this policy. ACCA already claims to have 150,000 registered students. With less than 10,000 passing the final exams, most of them are never going to qualify. Even if the overseas students do qualify, ACCA would not be setting them free. Instead, like colonial powers, it will demand annual fee and control. The additional students, would help the ACCA to extract more moneys, assuming that the students will become members.

In response to inquiries from students in China and the far east, AABA would like to make it clear that it is not an accountancy trade association. AABA is a campaigning organization. It exists to shed light on darker practices in the world of business and accountancy.