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Hong KongHow to check an SFC licence on the public register
The SFC public register is a free searchable database of every licensed corporation, licensed representative, responsible officer and registered institution in Hong Kong. Search by name or firm to see the regulated activity types held, the accreditation, the licence dates, and any public disciplinary action.
Almost nobody uses this tool, and almost everybody should. It is free, it takes a minute, and it answers questions that people otherwise ask on forums and get wrong. Is this firm actually licensed for what it claims? Is the person selling me this product allowed to? Has my prospective employer been disciplined?
What the register is
The SFC maintains a public register of licensed persons and registered institutions, as it is required to do. It covers licensed corporations, individuals licensed as representatives, individuals approved as responsible officers, and the banks registered to carry on regulated activities. It is searchable by name, and the search is free with no account.
What each field tells you
| Field | What it means | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Central Entity Number or CE number | The unique identifier for the licensed person or entity | Use it to be certain you have the right person where names are common |
| Regulated activities | The Types the person or firm is licensed for | Does it match what they are actually offering you? |
| Licence type | Licensed corporation, licensed representative, responsible officer, registered institution | Tells you the capacity, not just the permission |
| Accreditation | For individuals, the firm they are accredited to | Someone accredited elsewhere cannot act for the firm in front of you |
| Licence dates | When the licence was granted and, if applicable, ceased | Gaps in an individual's history are worth asking about |
| Conditions | Any restrictions imposed on the licence | Restrictions on client types or client assets are meaningful |
| Disciplinary action | Public disciplinary history | Read the SFC's published decision, not just the fact of it |
Three checks worth making
Before you accept a job
Search the firm. Confirm it holds the regulated activity types the role description implies, because your licence can only ever cover activities your employer is licensed for. If the job promises IPO sponsor work and the firm has no sponsor conditions, that is a question for the interview rather than a discovery for month three.
Look at the responsible officers too. A firm with very few, or with ROs who appear to have joined recently, may be less stable than the letterhead suggests.
Before you buy anything
If somebody is recommending an investment to you, they should be licensed for advising and their firm should hold the corresponding type. Unlicensed activity is a criminal matter under the Ordinance, and the fastest way to identify an investment scam in Hong Kong is that the entity does not appear on the register at all.
On yourself
Once you are licensed, your entry is public. Recruiters read it. Compliance teams at prospective employers read it. Search your own name occasionally and confirm the accreditation and activity types are current, because errors do occur and it is easier to correct one before somebody else notices it.
Some activities fall outside the licensing regime, and some overseas firms deal with Hong Kong professional investors under specific arrangements. Absence from the register is a strong signal to slow down and ask questions, not automatic proof of wrongdoing.
Reading disciplinary history properly
The register flags public disciplinary action, and the SFC publishes its decisions and enforcement news separately. Read the actual decision. A fine for a late filing and a ban for misappropriating client money both appear as disciplinary action, and they are not remotely the same thing.
This is also, incidentally, the best free study material for Paper 1 that exists. SFC enforcement decisions describe real conduct failures against the actual rule that was breached. Reading a handful of them teaches the Code of Conduct in a way no summary does, because you see what the breach looked like from the inside.
How this appears on the exam
Paper 1 expects you to know that the SFC maintains a public register, what goes on it, and that maintaining it is part of the regulator's statutory function. You will not be asked to describe the search interface. You may well be asked what the register contains or which population it covers, and the answer includes registered institutions, which candidates forget.
The opinion
The public register is the most under-used piece of investor protection infrastructure in Hong Kong. It is genuinely good - comprehensive, free, current - and the people who most need it are the people least likely to know it exists. Every retail investor who has been talked into something by a confident stranger could have resolved it in sixty seconds. That gap is a marketing failure rather than a design failure, and it is worth telling people about.
The concession: the interface has aged, the search is fussier than it needs to be with Chinese names and with firms that have rebranded, and the disciplinary information is a pointer rather than a full picture. You often have to go to the SFC's enforcement news to get the story. It could be much easier to use, and for a tool aimed partly at retail investors, that matters.
If you are checking a firm because you are weighing up a job with it, read employer sponsorship for SFC licensing alongside it.
Common questions
How do I check if someone is SFC licensed?
Search their name on the SFC Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions. It is free and needs no account. The entry shows the regulated activity types held, the firm they are accredited to, the licence dates, any conditions, and any public disciplinary action.
What is a CE number?
The Central Entity number is the unique identifier the SFC assigns to a licensed person or entity. It is the reliable way to confirm you have found the right record when names are common, and firms quote it in regulatory correspondence and on client documentation.
Does the public register show disciplinary action?
It flags public disciplinary action, and the SFC publishes the underlying decisions separately in its enforcement news. Read the decision itself rather than the flag, because a late filing penalty and a ban for misappropriating client money appear under the same heading.
Can I check a bank on the SFC register?
Yes. The register covers registered institutions as well as licensed corporations, so you can confirm which regulated activities a bank is registered for. For individuals at banks, the HKMA maintains the register of securities staff as their front-line supervisor.
What if a firm is not on the register?
Slow down and ask questions. Some activities sit outside the licensing regime and some overseas firms operate under specific arrangements with professional investors, so absence is not automatic proof of wrongdoing. It is, however, the most common feature of Hong Kong investment scams.