Hong Kong SFC licensing and compliance hints

WFH is not an excuse

If licensed companies allow their staff to work from home, they should ensure that letters or other correspondence sent to the office are being monitored and attended to regularly, especially invoices requiring payment or other mail which requires a response by a certain date. The same applies if the company has a voicemail box for a general telephone line.

Demonstrations on using the SFC online portal 

As the SFC requires licensed companies and licensed individuals to file their notifications through the online portal, users can make reference to the demonstration clips available on the SFC’s website if they don’t know what to do. Please remember that individual notifications should only be submitted by the individual, and not by someone else on their behalf.

Know the RO before signing them up

Before a licensed firm hires a new responsible officer (RO), it should ask detailed questions about the applicant. As part of the assessment as to whether the applicant is fit and proper for the job, in addition to looking up the applicant’s licence record at the SFC’s public register and the job title at their current and former firms, the firm should also check if the applicant has any conditions imposed on their licence and why, and assess if they possess the specific experience necessary to carry out the new role.