Dr Newton Shum obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration in Professional Accountancy, Master of Accountancy, and Doctor of Education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a Fellow Member of both the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) and The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong (TIHK). He is also a Certified Tax Adviser in Hong Kong.

Dr Shum commenced his career as a tax specialist in KPMG. Before joining this institution, he was the Director and Head of Tax in an international accounting firm. He specialised in Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland and international taxation, providing tax advisory and IPO related services to listed companies, expatriates and multinational corporations. Besides chairing numerous internal training sessions for colleagues, Dr Shum also ran external seminars and radio programmes to provide tax advice and updates to the public.

Dr Shum has written various tax articles for publication in China Tax Intelligence, Asia-Pacific Journal of Taxation and International Tax Review.  He has also assisted LexisNexis in establishing the Hong Kong Tax Database.

During his leisure time, Dr Shum enjoys sharing knowledge with others and nurturing young accountants. He is actively participating in professional development affairs of the HKICPA, acting as a facilitator and team representative of Qualification Programme Introductory, Module 14 (Taxation), and Capstone workshops and examinations, and serving as one of the speakers and examiners of the Advanced Diploma in Specialist Taxation.