United States
Hong KongYour first year licensed
Three things begin at licensing: a CPT obligation of 10 hours in the calendar year, an entry on the SFC public register, and a scope limited to the regulated activities your licence names.
Passing Paper 1 ends the studying. It starts everything else.
The training clock starts immediately
A licensed representative must undertake a minimum of 10 CPT hours per calendar year, whatever the number and types of regulated activities they engage in.
Five of those hours must be on topics directly relevant to the activities you are licensed for. And within the 12 months after you first become licensed, two hours must be on ethics.
It is not the same as the annual requirement that follows it. Within your first 12 months you owe two hours specifically on ethics; from then on it is two hours a year on ethics or compliance. People who read the annual rule first often miss that the first year has its own.
You are on a public register
The SFC maintains a public register of licensed persons. Your name, your principal and the regulated activities you are licensed for are searchable by anyone, including clients and prospective employers.
Look yourself up in the first week. Errors in the record are easier to correct early, and the register is what a counterparty checks.
Your scope is narrower than your job feels
A licence names regulated activity types. Doing something outside them is not a technicality; the Securities and Futures Ordinance makes unlicensed regulated activity a criminal matter.
The gap opens quietly. A representative licensed for dealing who starts advising clients on which securities to buy has moved into a different activity type, and nobody sends a warning.
You have a principal, not just an employer
Your licence is applied for by a sponsoring corporation and is tied to it. Leaving means the licence does not simply travel with you.
That changes how you think about a resignation date, and it is the thing new licensees most often discover late.
What to do in month one
- Check your entry on the SFC public register
- Get your regulated activity types in writing and read what each one covers
- Find out who books your CPT and whether the firm runs its own programme
- Diarise the two ethics hours before the 12-month mark
- Read your firm's compliance manual properly once, while you still have time
Common questions
How many CPT hours do I need in my first year?
At least 10 in the calendar year, five of them on topics relevant to your regulated activities, plus two hours on ethics within 12 months of first becoming licensed.
Am I on a public register?
Yes. The SFC publishes a register showing your name, principal and regulated activities.
What happens if I work outside my licensed activities?
Unlicensed regulated activity is a criminal matter under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, not an administrative slip.
Does my licence belong to me or my employer?
It is applied for by a sponsoring corporation and tied to it. It does not travel with you automatically.
What should I do first?
Check the register entry, get your activity types in writing, and diarise the ethics hours.