The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

is the independent statutory body charged with regulating the

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

and

futures markets A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or ...

in Hong Kong. The SFC is responsible for fostering an orderly securities and futures markets, to protect investors and to help promote Hong Kong as an international financial centre and a key financial market in China. Even though it is considered to be a branch of the government, it is run independently under the authorisation of the laws relating to

Securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

and

Futures Futures may mean: Finance *Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract *Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded * ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine Music * ''Futures'' (album), a ...

. The head office is in One Island East in

Quarry Bay Quarry Bay is an List of buildings, sites, and areas in Hong Kong, area beneath Mount Parker (Hong Kong), Mount Parker in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. The western portion of the area was al ...

History

The SFC was created in 1989 in response to the

stock market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often foll ...

of 1987. In 1997 following the

Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...

, the regulatory framework was further improved. A comprehensive Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) was implemented in 2003, which expanded the SFC's regulatory functions and powers.

Andrew Sheng Tan Sri Andrew Sheng (born 1946) is Hong Kong-based Malaysian banker, academic and commentator. He started his career as an accountant and is now a distinguished fellow of Fung Global Institute, a global think tank based in Hong Kong. He served ...

served as chairman of the SFC from 1998 until 2005, when he was succeeded by

Martin Wheatley Martin Wheatley is a British financier, formerly managing director of the Consumer and Markets Business Unit of the Financial Services Authority in the UK, and is the former CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority. In London Wheatley worked for t ...

. Wheatley first served as chairman, and became CEO in 2006 when the posts of chairman and CEO were segregated to further promote corporate governance. Eddy Fong was appointed non-executive chairman in 2006. Ashley Alder assumed the position of CEO in 2011 and Carlson Tong was appointed non-executive chairman in 2012.

Responsibilities

The SFC is one of four regulatory organisations that make up financial regulators in Hong Kong, one of the major financial centres in the world. The others are the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Insurance Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. The SFC is responsible for securities and futures markets including the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the seventh largest stock exchange in the world (See list of stock exchanges). The SFC has a responsibility to maintain order and protect investors, it does this by carrying out the following tasks: *Setting and enforcing market regulations *Licensing and supervising market participants such as brokers, investment advisers and fund managers *Supervising market operators including exchanges, automated trading services and clearing houses *Authorising offering documents of investment products to be offered to the public *Overseeing corporate activities of listed companies under the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Repurchases *Educating investors on markets, investment products and their risks

Structure

The SFC is an independent statutory body whose powers derive from the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) legislation. The SFC is made up of a board whose members are appointed by the

Chief Executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...

for a fixed term, a majority of which must be independent Non-Executive Directors. The board is headed by the Chairman also appointed by the

. An executive committee led by a chief executive officer (CEO) reports to the board and the board chairman and he runs the agency on a day-to-day basis; this position was created in 2006. The SFC is funded by levies on transactions conducted on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) and the

Hong Kong Futures Exchange Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE) is a futures exchange in Hong Kong. Established in 1976, it offered a variety of options and futures contracts, linked to stock market indices, stocks, short-term interest rates, and foreign exchange. HKFE is a s ...

(HKFE), as well as fees charged to market participants.

List of chairmen

# Robert John Richard Owen (1989–1992) # Robert William Nottle (1992–1994) # Anthony Francis Neoh (1995–1998) # Andrew Sheng Len-tao (1998–2005) #

(2005–2006) # Eddy Fong Ching (2006–2012) # Carlson Tong Ka-shing (2012–2018) # Tim Lui Tim-leung (2018–)

List of CEOs

''The position of CEO was created in 2006'' #

(2006–2011) # Ashley Ian Alder (2011–2022) # Julia Leung Fung-yee (2023–)

HKSI Licensing Examination

The Licensing Examination for Securities and Futures Intermediaries (LE), a practical and market-focused examination, was developed with the assistance of regulators, academics and practitioners drawn from across the financial services industry. Its delegated by the SFC and conducted by the Hong Kong Securities Institute.

Criticisms

The Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute faces a lot of criticisms since the test were not checked or validated independently before implemented to the examinations. In addition to that, no formal appeal procedures or practices are in place to check and balances the legitimacy of such examinations. Discrepancies between different languages are commonplace with these examinations. Candidates should be aware that neither SFC nor the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute (HKSI) endorses any study notes or practice questions.

References

External links

Official web site
{{authority control

Securities (finance) Statutory bodies in Hong Kong Hong Kong government departments and agencies