Supervision

MPF Intermediaries

Registration Requirements

Registration requirements for MPF intermediaries

Under the existing legislation, there are two types of intermediaries, both of which must register with MPFA.

 

Principal intermediary

To register as a principal intermediary (PI), applicants:

 

  • must be a Type A regulatee of an industry regulator and in good standing, meaning
    • the Type A regulatee qualification has not been revoked on disciplinary grounds by an industry regulator within one year before the date of the application;
    • the Type A regulatee qualification has not been suspended by an industry regulator;
    • the MPF registration has not been revoked on disciplinary grounds by MPFA within one year before the date of the application; and
    • they are not disqualified from registration by MPFA; and
  • must designate at least one responsible officer for the supervision of the regulated activities.

 

Subsidiary intermediary

To register as a subsidiary intermediary (SI), applicants:

 

  • must be a Type B regulatee of an industry regulator and in good standing, meaning
    • the Type B regulatee qualification has not been revoked on disciplinary grounds by an industry regulator within one year before the date of the application;
    • the Type B regulatee qualification has not been suspended by an industry regulator;
    • the MPF registration has not been revoked on disciplinary grounds by MPFA within one year before the date of the application; and
    • they are not disqualified from registration by MPFA;
  • must be attached to a PI; and
  • must pass a qualifying examination recognized by MPFA.

For further details on registration and other related matters, see Handbook on MPF Intermediary Registration.

 

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Approval criteria for responsible officers

To register and be approved as a responsible officer, SIs must meet the following requirements:

 

  • they must be attached to a PI and have sufficient authority, resources and support from the PI;
  • the approval of the SI as a responsible officer has not been revoked by MPFA within one year immediately before the date of the application; and
  • they are not disqualified by MPFA from being approved as a responsible officer with specified responsibilities in relation to a PI.
Examination requirements for MPF intermediaries

As part of the registration requirements, candidates must pass a qualifying examination before they can become MPF intermediaries. Specifically:

 

  • New applicants must take and pass the examination within one year prior to applying to become MPF intermediaries.
  • SIs who have not registered within three years immediately before the date of the application need to take and pass the examination again to re-register.
  • SIs who have failed to complete continuing training and thus have their registration revoked need to take and pass the examination again to re-register.

The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Examination conducted by the Vocational Training Council, and the MPF Intermediaries Examination conducted by the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute are the qualifying examinations specified by MPFA as meeting the examination requirements to be an MPF intermediary.

 

Both examinations are based on the same syllabus and cover information on the following areas:

 

  • regulatory framework;
  • key features of the MPF System;
  • functions of MPF trustees;
  • MPF schemes and investments;
  • interface arrangements between ORSO schemes and the MPF System; and
  • regulation of MPF intermediaries.

MPFA has compiled the Study Notes to help candidates who are interested in becoming a qualified MPF intermediary to prepare for the examination. Candidates are recommended to study the Examination Syllabus (Updated March 2017) and the Study Notes (Updated September 2019) for the examination.

For more information on the enrolment and examination schedules, please contact: 

 

•        Vocational Training Council (VTC) Tel: 2919 1467 / 2919 1468 / 2919 1478
•        Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute (HKSI Institute) Tel: 3120 6100

Registration Fees
The fees for applying for registration as MPF intermediaries are as follows:

Relevant section of the MPFSO
Description
Fee (HKD)
Section 34T
Fee payable when an application is lodged with MPFA for registration as a PI for carrying on regulated activities
$2340
Section 34U
Fee payable when an application is lodged with MPFA for registration as an SI for carrying on regulated activities for a PI

$290
Section 34V
Fee payable when an application is lodged with MPFA for approval of attachment of  an SI to a PI for the purpose of carrying on regulated activities
$130
Section 34W
Fee payable when an application is lodged with MPFA for approval as a responsible officer of a PI
$660