Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Licensing Examination – Is there a chance for exemption? (Responsible Officer Edition)

In Hong Kong, conducting securities business is a regulated activity subject to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), requiring the appropriate license. To obtain a license, one must meet the requirements of the “Competency Guidelines.”

In addition to education, relevant industry experience, and management experience, one must also have recognized industry qualifications and pass the local regulatory framework exams. The latter two are both related to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Practitioners Qualification Examination (HKSI LE).

There are many papers in the HKSI LE (currently a total of 15). Is it possible to get exemptions?

The answer is yes!

How can one get exemptions? And which papers can be exempted?

The exemption conditions for SFC Responsible Officers are as follows:

1.If you have a bachelor’s degree or higher in accounting, business administration, economics, finance, financial management, or law; and at least 3 years of relevant industry experience and 2 years of management experience in the past 6 years, you can be exempted from HKSI LE Papers 7-12;

2.If you majored in other fields at the university but took courses in accounting, business administration, economics, finance, financial management, or law during your bachelor’s degree or higher, and passed at least two exams; and had at least 3 years of relevant industry experience and 2 years of management experience in the past 6 years, you can also be exempted from HKSI LE Papers 7-12;

3.If you hold an internationally recognized financial professional qualification: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA), or Certified Financial Planner (CFP); and have at least 3 years of relevant industry experience and 2 years of management experience in the past 6 years, you must be exempted from HKSI LE Papers 7-12;

4.If you passed Chinese or English + Mathematics in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education or have a bachelor’s degree or higher; and had at least 5 years of relevant securities industry experience and 2 years of management experience in the past 8 years, and completed the relevant additional continuing education (i.e., the applicant must complete an additional 5 hours of continuing education related to the regulated activity applied for within 6 months before submitting the application), you can still be exempted from Papers 7-12.

Do not meet any of the above conditions? Then there’s no exemption for you!

Moreover, the local regulatory framework exams, namely the Rules Papers (Papers 1 to 6) in HKSI LE, cannot be exempted.

How can we help?

2CExam provides HKSI LE, IIQE, EAQE and SQE related exam preparation materials. We sell mock question banks for HKSI LE Papers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 in Chinese and English; and bibles for HKSI LE Papers 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 in Chinese. We also offer 1 on 1 tutorial services. Besides, we have also made free tutorial videos for HKSI LE Papers 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12 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:

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