SFC licensing and compliance hints – Sep 2013

New SFC forms: The SFC will roll out new licensing forms with effect from 1 October 2013 (and has helpfully given the industry almost one month to cope with the transition). Two points about the new forms are worth highlighting:

1. the declaration sections on all of the forms now state that the SFC may take criminal action against any person who makes a false or misleading representation in connection with the application or notification (previously the forms only referred to disciplinary action);
2. on new corporate licence applications, the SFC now requires the applicant to confirm as part of the declaration that it has been authorized in writing by its substantial shareholders to apply on their behalf for approval. We do not think it will be necessary to provide a copy of the written authorisation to the SFC but clearly it must be in place at the time the declaration is made.

If you are currently working on any applications or notifications, it would be best to have the forms finalised and submitted to the SFC by the end of September; otherwise, you should start working on the new forms instead.

“Watch your words; they become actions”: This is not just a quote; but a rule to remember in dealing with the SFC. We advise clients to be careful about what is said or submitted to the SFC and to keep clear records of the same, whether in the context of a licence application or an on-going notification filing. For example, the SFC imposes licensing conditions based on the information and representations contained in an applicant’s business plan. Licensed companies and individuals must act in accordance with what has been communicated to the SFC.

CPT: We are about to go into the final quarter of the CPT year, so it is timely to do a CPT hours stock-take on all licensed individuals. If your company has licensed individuals who still have CPT hours to complete this year, they need to take action soon.