Of interest to: Hong Kong Licenced Firms
Effective 1 February 2017, all Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) applications, notifications and annual returns filed by Licensed Representatives (which includes Responsible Officers) must be submitted by way of the SFC’s online portal https://portal.sfc.hk/sfcportal/signin?locale=en (“Portal”). Submissions by Licensed Corporations and their Substantial Shareholders and Directors will remain unchanged. The SFC advises this arrangement will increase its efficiency in handling Licensed Representatives’ notifications, which is achieved by passing the SFC’s current license database data entry role to Licensed Corporations.
In order to prepare for mandatory Portal submissions, if you do not have them already, we recommend you begin collecting the log-in names and passwords for each of your Licensed Representatives and compiling them in a single list; an xls spreadsheet works well for this task. It is our suggestion that you seek to have this data assembled for your Licensed Representatives as soon as possible, and in any event no later than Monday 30 January 2017 so as to avoid late submissions resulting from not having this information.
Where are my Licensed Representatives’ Portal log-in names and passwords?
1. Portal log-in names and passwords were provided to the Licensed Corporation at the time each Licensed Representative was licensed by way of two separate letters, respectively, dispatched by post.
2. If you do not have log-in names and passwords available then you may access the Portal at the link given above and request the SFC to re-issue these items. For this process you need to have in hand for each Licensed Representative the following:
(i) Name
(ii) CE No (if known)
(iii) Hong Kong ID or passport number previously reported to the SFC
(iv) Email address
(v) Contact telephone number
Following submission of this information via the Portal the SFC will send to the email given the new login data, which should be collected and retained as described above. Presumably, the SFC has upgraded the Portal’s capacity to process the numerous requests for password resets which it will receive prior to the effective date.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
Complyport has a Hong Kong office with 6 staff, including its principal who is a US-trained capital markets lawyer and has worked establishing compliance programmes and providing on-going compliance advice to financial institutions in Hong Kong since 1996.
To find out more about how we can help with your Hong Kong compliance requirements, please contact your usual consultant or email us at info@complyport.co.uk.
