What exam should I take if I want to help clients buy and sell Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, and bonds?

 

In Hong Kong, unless an individual or company is exempted, if they wish to conduct ten “regulated activities” defined by the Securities and Futures Ordinance, they need to apply for a license/registration with the SFC.

 

• Type 1 Dealing in securities
• Type 2 Dealing in futures contracts
• Type 3 Leveraged foreign exchange trading
• Type 4 Advising on securities
• Type 5 Advising on futures contracts
• Type 6 Advising on corporate finance
• Type 7 Providing automated trading services
• Type 8 Securities margin financing
• Type 9 Asset management
• Type 10 Providing credit rating services

Examples include collecting commissions to buy and sell securities for clients, which is a Type 1 regulated activity;the provision of trading advice on securities to customers for a fee is a type 4 regulated activity. So what does securities mean? Securities refers to a kind of valuable certificates that represent property rights, including stocks, bonds, and warrants such as Hong Kong stocks and U.S. stocks. Therefore, charging customers  for trading Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, and bonds on their behalf belong to Type 1 regulated activities and need to apply for a license/registration with the Securities and Futures Commission. One of the conditions for licensing/registration is to partake and pass the Licensing Examination for Securities and Futures Intermediaries (HKSI LE).

What exam do you need to take?

This depends on your position in the company. If you have just entered the industry and have no experience in the securities industry, you should start with being a licensed representative. Licensed representatives of securities trading need to take HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, 8. For exemption information, please refer to

https://2cexam.com.hk/a1015_eng/

 

Examination papers required to be partaken by licensed representatives

 

The HKSI LE exam has 14 different exam papers. Which ones do you need to take? In fact, it depends on what activities you want to engage in, in other words, what services or products you want to sell or provide. For example, if you want to trade securities products such as Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, bonds, etc. on behalf of your clients, you need to take HKSI LE papers 1, 7, and 8. Or if you want to work in an asset management company and deal with products related to funds or discretionary accounts, you may need papers 1, 7, and 12. You can first refer to the following chart to evaluate what combination of exam papers you need to take, and then refer to the exemption conditions to determine whether you need to take the entire combination of exam papers. 

Exam papers to be taken by Responsible Officers 

The examination papers of responsible officers are also based on the same principles as the examinations to be taken by the licensed representative. It depends on the type of activity you are engaged in, that is, the financial products/services that the company you will work for want you to regulate. For example, if you need to conduct Type 2 and 5 regulated activities, that is, to conduct dealing in future contracts or to advise on future contracts, you need to take HKSI Paper 1 and 3. If you have taken HKSI LE Paper 1 and applied for a license to become a licensed representative before becoming a responsible officer, you do not need to take the exam again. So just take the HKSI LE Paper 3. You can first refer to the following chart to estimate what combination of examination papers you need to take and then refer to the exemption conditions to determine whether you need to take the entire combination of examination papers.

If more than one exam paper is required to be taken, which one should I partake first?

There is no requirement for the order of passing the exam in all the qualification exam papers. Candidates can apply for different exam papers according to their needs and decide the order of their own. For example, the exams of papers 2, 6, and 16 can still be retaken if a candidate fails in paper 1. Although there is no official restriction on the order of taking the exams, we recommend that students start with the paper 1 exam, because the paper 1 exam is the foundation, and many of the other papers are part of the content of the paper 1 exam, or an extension of a certain chapter of the paper 1 exam. Studying paper 1 allows the candidate to have a relatively macro and clearer mind map of various concepts, hence it is easier for the candidates to connect the different concepts.

 

How should I study for the exam?

 

The pass rate of HKSI LE has always been a big worry for many candidates,  Here we recommend a review method for everyone:

 

1. First study the material study manual / 2CExam Youtube instructional video by each chapter 

 

English Videos

HKSI LE Paper 1 Free Class

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLilKLKW6-sshHzqqCUowV243F3sjymUr7

 

Chinese Videos

HKSI LE Paper 1 Free Class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj8tfrHGFOY&list=PLilKLKW6-ssjSl1PCuyTymFWQJwT_jmua

 

HKSI LE Paper 2 Free Class

http://goo.gl/m4A6mN

 

HKSI LE Paper 6 Free Class

http://goo.gl/Kx1fT3

 

HKSI LE Paper 7 Free Class

http://goo.gl/N3naMg

 

HKSI LE Paper 8 Free Class

http://goo.gl/H1fOvm

 

HKSI LE Paper 12 Free Class

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLilKLKW6-ssgFnTWO6wOad7aoZd6T3R0G

 

This revision method takes 20-25 hours, and statistically has a pass rate of 80%.

No statistics are available for other review methods.

 

2CExam is a company that specializes in training candidates to take the securities, insurance and real estate exams. Regarding IIQE, 2CExam has produced free Cantonese video teaching Paper 1, 2, 3, which is publicly released on major well-known video sharing websites at no additional charge. If students have difficulty understanding the content of the study manual when taking the HKSI paper 1, 2, 3, they can choose to watch the other instructional videos. If you want to purchase review materials to better understand the content of the exam, you can visit www.2cexam.com (physical product) or www.hksiiiqepasspaper.online (online version)

 

How can we help?

2CExam provides HKSI LE, IIQE, EAQE and SQE related exam preparation materials. We sell mock question banks for IIQE Papers 1, 2, 3, 5 and MPFE in Chinese and English; and bibles for IIQE Papers 1, 2, 3, MPFE in Chinese. We also offer 1 on 1 tutorial services. Besides, we have also made free tutorial videos for IIQE Papers 1, 2, 3 and MPFE and posted on public channels such as Youtube/ Bilibili/ Tencent/ Iqiyi. 2CExam has been an exam training expert for years. Should you need any help please visit www.2cexam.com or contact us through:

Phone +852 2110 9644 Email: [email protected] Wechat: hk2cexam WhatsApp: +852 9347 2064