Employment in Financial Services

SFC

The “Guidelines on Competence” published by the SFC lists the necessary qualifications for employees carrying on regulated activities. For academic qualifications, employees should attain at least Level 2 in either English or Chinese as well as in Mathematics in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education or equivalent. In addition, employees are expected to obtain recognised industry qualifications and pass the local regulatory framework paper. For responsible officers (ROs), the SFC requires higher levels of educational qualifications and experience.

IA

The “Guideline on ‘Fit and Proper’ Criteria for Licensed Insurance Intermediaries Under the Insurance Ordinance” published by the IA sets out the education requirements for licenced employees under the IO. Higher levels of educational qualifications are required for responsible officers.

Anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism

Financial services employees are required to receive training on anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism. New staff should be required to attend initial training as soon as possible after being hired or appointed. Apart from the initial training, refresher training should be provided regularly to ensure that staff are reminded of their responsibilities and are kept informed of new developments (see question 8).

Whistleblowing

There is no single comprehensive whistleblowing legislation to protect whistleblowers in Hong Kong. However, piecemeal provisions in various ordinances may protect specific whistleblowers for the reporting of specific offences. For example, the Employment Ordinance provides that an employer shall not terminate (or threaten to terminate) the employment of, or in any way discriminate against, an employee because the employee has given evidence or information in any proceedings or inquiry in connection with the enforcement of the Employment Ordinance, work accidents or breach of work safety legislation.

While it is not legally required, as good practice, employers should consider implementing a whistleblowing policy to set out, among others, the type of incidents that should be reported and the procedures for filing the report.

Workplace harassment

Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, Disability Discrimination Ordinance and Race Discrimination Ordinance, any harassment in the workplace based on sex, pregnancy, disability and race (which includes colour, descent, ethnic or national origins) is unlawful.

As employers are vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of their employees (whether or not the act was done with the employer’s knowledge or approval), one of the statutory defences is for employers to establish that they took “reasonably practicable steps” to prevent the wrongful act in the workplace. Employers should therefore put in place anti-harassment policies and procedures to prevent harassment from happening in the workplace and to provide complaint or reporting procedures to handle such incidents.

There are no particular rules or protocols that apply when terminating the employment of an employee in the financial services sector. The termination procedures will follow the requirements under the Employment Ordinance and the contractual terms of the employment contract. In certain cases (eg, termination of senior executives), the parties may enter into a mutual release and settlement agreement.

The licensed corporations should notify the regulators of any changes, including cessation of appointment of the licensed representative and responsible officer or managers-in-charge of core functions, within seven business days. In the case of registered institutions, the notification should be made to both the SFC and the HKMA.

Under section 64R of the IO, within 14 days after the day on which an authorised insurer, a licensed insurance agency or a licensed insurance broker company (collectively, “Appointing Principal”) terminates the appointment of a licensed insurance agency, a licensed individual insurance agent, a licensed technical representative (agent), a licensed technical representative (broker) or a responsible officer (as the case may be), then the Appointing Principal should notify the IA in writing of the termination.