Starting from 2 October 2024, depositaries for SFC-authorised collective investment schemes (CISs) in Hong Kong will be required to be licensed or registered for Type 13 regulated activity (RA 13) under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO), unless exempted. Depositary services include the custody and safekeeping of relevant CIS property and the oversight of a relevant CIS to ensure that it is operated in accordance with its scheme documents. Depositaries must satisfy the SFC’s regulatory requirements, including maintaining paid-up share capital and liquid capital, and submitting financial returns. The SFC is accepting RA 13 licence and registration applications, and existing depositaries must submit their applications by 30 November 2023. Individual practitioners who are engaged by an existing depositary to provide depositary services are exempted from taking the local regulatory framework paper (LRP) for RA 13 as long as their licence applications are submitted to the SFC before 2 October 2024, but they must complete a training course of not less than five hours on the legal and regulatory framework for RA 13 conducted by a continuous professional training (CPT) provider within 12 months immediately before or after being licensed or registered.
Resource:
https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/doc?refNo=23EC32