Should Hong Kong bank employees apply for an HKMA license or an SFC license?

According to the licensing requirements for real estate practitioners, passing relevant qualification exams is a necessary condition for obtaining a real estate agent (individual) license or a salesperson license. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Practitioners Qualification Exam (HKSI LE) is one of the most popular exams in the Hong Kong financial market, mainly testing individuals' professional knowledge and capabilities in securities and investments in order to obtain a practice license in the securities and investment industry.

So, which license should bank employees apply for after passing the exam?

Actually, it depends on the company you represent. This is because some banks may not directly engage in securities business as a bank itself but may establish a subsidiary or affiliated company specifically for securities business. If you only represent the retail bank itself, you only need to register with the HKMA and do not need a license from the SFC. However, if you represent both a bank and a licensed corporation (e.g., a subsidiary of the bank), you need to register with the HKMA and also hold an SFC license.

Most retail bank employees only represent the bank itself and thus only need to register with the HKMA. However, private bank employees may have the opportunity to represent both a bank and a licensed corporation, especially when handling responsible derivative transactions. In this case, the employee would be both a registered person (relevant individual/executive officer) and a licensed individual (licensed representative/responsible officer).

Therefore, before applying for a license, bank employees should consult their company's human resources or compliance department to determine which company they will represent. Additionally, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) registration number consists of two English letters and four digits, referred to as the registration number.

For the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the license number system for licensed individuals consists of three English letters followed by three digits, totaling six characters, and is referred to as the Central Number.

A bank employee can have both a Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Central Number and a Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) registration number.

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