Banking Development Department
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Our Ref: |
B1/15C |
21 August 2003
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The Chief Executive |
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All Authorized Institutions |
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(Including those deemed under the transitional arrangements of the Securities and Futures Ordinance) |
Dear Sir / Madam,
New Publications of the
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the HKMA
I am writing to inform you that the SFC has issued a new series of publications on investor education in the light of the new securities supervisory regime and recent market developments. Such publications aim to assist investors in understanding, among other things, their rights and protection under the new regime as well as the basics of certain investment products. A brief account of these publications is attached at Annex for your reference.
The HKMA fully supports the SFC's efforts and initiatives in promoting investor education. In this regard, registered institutions (RIs) are invited to distribute the relevant SFC publications to their securities clients where appropriate, particularly at the retail level1. Besides, relevant individuals of your institution are strongly recommended to read the SFC publications.
Regarding HKMA publications related to RIs' securities activities, you may be aware that a feature article "Securities-Related Activities of Authorized Institutions: Key Issues for Staff"2 and a supervisor's memo "The Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 2002"3 have been published in our Quarterly Bulletin (QB)4 issued in March and June 2003 respectively. The purpose of these publications is to facilitate RIs in complying with the new statutory and regulatory requirements.
In the upcoming September issue of the QB, there will be another supervisor's memo providing further guidance to RIs on some frequently raised questions. In terms of RI applications, one point in this memo to
which we would like to draw your attention is that the SFC application form requires a declaration, among other things, that the board of directors of the RI has passed a resolution approving the application. RI applicants are reminded to make proper arrangement in advance to ensure that such board resolution is in place before submitting their application. Foreign authorized institutions should take particular note of this as the arrangement for such a board resolution may take time.
Should you have any questions relating to the SFC publications or wish to obtain copies of them, please contact Ms Karen Heung of the SFC Investor Education and Communications Department at 2842-7711. For any other questions regarding this circular, you may contact the following HKMA officers: Mr Paul Lee at 2878-8283 or Mr Samuel Leung at 2878-1541.
Yours faithfully,
Danny Leung
Acting Executive Director (Banking Development)
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Annex (MS Word, 28KB) |
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c.c. |
SFC (Attn: Mrs Ivy Lai, Investor Education and Communications Dept.) |
1 The SFC has also invited licensed corporations to distribute the publications to their clients.
2 This feature article sets out some key matters that are of interest to relevant individuals. 3 This supervisor's memo provides guidance to RIs in respect of some frequently raised questions.4 The QBs are available on the HKMA website at www.info.gov.hk/hkma.
