Which paper should I take for the HKSI?

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.

The HKSI LE exam currently has 15 different papers, divided into regulatory papers, application papers, and sponsor papers.

Candidates usually need to pass the regulatory papers plus the application/sponsor papers in order to participate in the SFC-regulated activities.

Schedule 5 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance specifies ten categories of regulated activities:

To participate in various regulated activities, you need to pass different combinations of HKSI exam papers. The required papers may vary depending on the category of the licensed individual (licensed representative, responsible officer).

Therefore, first of all, you need to know that the paper number and the category of regulated activities do not have a one-to-one correspondence! So, you cannot simply take the paper with the same number as the desired activity category.

Secondly, you can also check if you are eligible for exemptions. For information on exemptions, you can refer to "How to Obtain Exemptions for HKSI Securities and Futures Practitioners Exam."

So, which papers should I take if I want to buy and sell stocks and other securities for clients and earn commissions?

Engaging in securities trading at brokerage firms or banks, collecting clients' commissions for buying or selling securities, including stocks in Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China markets, and bonds such as inflation-linked bonds (iBonds), require a Type 1 license (Type 1) for licensed individuals to conduct.

If you have no industry experience and cannot be exempted, and want to engage in Type 1 activities, you need to take HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 8 to become a Licensed Representative (LR). If you want to become a Type 1 Responsible Officer (RO), you also need to take HKSI LE Paper 2.

If you want to buy and sell futures and options contracts for clients and earn commissions, which papers should you take?

Buying and selling futures contracts, options, and other derivative instruments for clients, including agricultural futures, metal futures, Hang Seng Index futures, interest rate futures, stock futures, foreign exchange futures, stock call or put options, etc., fall under Type 2 regulated activities. To engage in these activities, you need to be a licensed representative with a Type 2 license.

If you have no industry experience and cannot be exempted, and you wish to engage in Type 2 activities, you need to take the HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 9 to become a licensed representative (LR). If you want to become a responsible officer (RO) for Type 2 activities, you also need to take HKSI LE Paper 3.

If you want to buy and sell leveraged foreign exchange for clients and earn commissions, which papers should you take?

Buying and selling leveraged foreign exchange products for clients and earning commissions fall under Type 3 regulated activities. To engage in these activities, you need to be a licensed representative with a Type 3 license. To engage in Type 3 regulated activities, you don't need to take any HKSI LE papers; instead, you need to take a leveraged foreign exchange exam.

If you want to provide advice on buying and selling securities (such as stocks) to clients, which paper should you take?

Providing advice on buying and selling securities (such as stocks and bonds) to clients and charging fees for it falls under Type 4 regulated activities. You need to be a licensed representative with a Type 4 license to engage in these activities. If you have no industry experience and cannot be exempted, but want to become a licensed representative (LR) to engage in Type 4 activities, you need to take HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 8. If you want to become a Type 4 Responsible Officer (RO), you also need to take HKSI LE Paper 2.

If you want to provide advice on buying and selling futures and options to clients for a fee, which paper should you take?

Providing advice to clients on trading futures and options contracts and charging fees for such activities falls under Type 5 regulated activity, which requires Type 5 license holders to engage in. If you have no industry experience and cannot be exempted, but wish to become a licensed representative (LR) and engage in Type 5 activities, you need to take HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 9. If you want to become a responsible officer (RO) for Type 5, you also need to take HKSI LE Paper 3.

If you wish to provide financing services for institutions (raising funds), you should take which exam paper?

If you wish to engage in Type 6 regulated activity, which involves designing different ways for corporations to raise capital, you need to hold a Type 6 license. If you have no industry experience and cannot be exempted, and want to become a licensed representative (LR) for Type 6 activities, you need to pass HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 11. If you want to become a responsible officer (RO) for Type 6, you also need to pass HKSI LE Paper 5.

If you wish to operate automated trading (such as dark pools and virtual currencies), which type of exam should you take?

 Engaged in dark pool trading or operating an online trading platform in Hong Kong with a license issued by the SFC, and providing trading services for one or more virtual assets that meet the SFC's definition of "securities" on the platform, also known as "cryptocurrencies", "cryptographic assets", "virtual currencies" or "digital tokens", belongs to the Type 7 regulated activity. If you only want to engage in Type 7 activities, you do not need to take any HKSI LE Paper.

What exam should I take if I want to provide securities margin financing (margin trading)?

If you provide clients with securities margin financing (commonly known as "margin trading"), unless it is wholly incidental to other activities, you should apply to be licensed as a Type 8 regulated activity. If you do not have industry experience and cannot be exempted, but wish to engage in Type 8 activities as a licensed representative (LR), you need to pass HKSI LE Papers 1, 7, and 8. 

If you want to become a Type 8 responsible officer (RO), you also need to pass HKSI LE Paper 2.

If you wish to engage in asset management business (such as managing funds or discretionary accounts), which paper should you take?

If you wish to engage in asset management business, such as managing the investment portfolios of funds or discretionary accounts, you should apply to be licensed as a Type 9 regulated activity.

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