SFC licensing and compliance hints – Oct 2014

Put BCP to the test –  Did your company activate its Business Continuity Plan in response to recent events in Hong Kong? If not, perhaps these events can be used as a scenario to test the effectiveness of the BCP, to identify areas for improvement / updating, e.g. does the SFC have the current contact details of the emergency contact person? The SFC has issued various circulars relating to BCPs over the years – for ease of reference, here are some links: 

25 November 2005:

http://www.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/openFile?refNo=H404

21 December 2005:

http://www.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/openFile?refNo=H407

12 June 2009:

http://www.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/openFile?refNo=H551

16 March 2010:

http://www.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/openFile?refNo=H569

CAD – Common Anniversary Date is a free, optional and useful programme offered by the SFC. It enables a licensed company or group to select one date during the year on which to submit all the annual returns and pay all the annual fees for all licensed companies in the group and their licensed staff. Participation can reduce administrative time and cost as well as the risk of a missed filing deadline. 

“Acceptance” ≠ “Approval” of an SFC application – When a licensing application is submitted to the SFC, the first hurdle is getting the application “accepted” by the SFC (that is, getting the SFC to start the review process). Once the SFC has no further questions, the application has reached the finishing line and the SFC will “approve” the application. SFC “acceptance” is therefore just the first step along the course to SFC “approval”. It is important to remember that regulated activities cannot start until the licence has been approved.