Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views Issue 48

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Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views | Issue 48 | 2017 17
1 See
circular/intermediaries/licensing/doc?refNo=16EC68, last
accessed on 27 April 2017. Link
2 See
manager-in-charge-regime.html, last accessed on 27 April 2017.
Link
3 See
of%202002.pdf, last downloaded on 27 April 2017. Link
4 See
files-current/web/guidelines/management,-supervision-
and-internal-control-guidelines-for-persons-licensed/
Management,%20Supervision%20and%20Internal%20
Control%20Guidelines%20for%20Persons%20
Licensed%20by%20or%20Registered%20with%20
the%20Securities%20and%20Futures%20Commission.pdf,
last downloaded on 27 April 2017. Link
5 The SFC has not mandated a specified form, which will vary
depending on the circumstances of each licensed corporation.
6 See
files-current/web/guidelines/guidelines-on-competence/
Guidelines%20on%20Competence.pdf, last downloaded
on 27 April 2017. Link
Preparing SFC notification/application documents
The documents that a licensed corporation needs
to submit to the SFC by 17 July 2017 include:
• Information about each MIC, in the form of
Supplement 8A
• And an organisational structure chart 5
If the individual identified as the MIC responsible
for overall management oversight or a key
business line is not currently an RO, the licensed
corporation will need to prepare and submit an
application to the SFC for that person to become
an RO by 16 October 2017. The competency
requirements for an RO are set out in the SFC’s
Guidelines on Competence.6 The FAQs indicate
that the SFC will take into account industry
experience in operations, compliance and other
back-office roles, in addition to direct experience
in regulated activities such as asset management
or dealing in or advising on securities.
Reflecting the MIC regime in internal documents
and procedures
Licensed corporations will need to update their
compliance manuals and policies to reflect the
MIC regime.
Licensed corporations will also need to put in place
a compliance process to monitor changes relating
to MICs and to report such changes to the SFC.
Changes in the individuals who act as MICs for a
core function and/or changes in organisational
structure will also need to be approved by the
board of directors of the licensed corporation.
Implementation timeline for the MIC regime
The impending deadline of 17 July 2017 by which
existing licensed corporations must complete
their MIC filing is fast approaching. The industry
has had some seven months to prepare, and a
failure to meet such deadline is likely to call into
question the fitness and properness of an entity
to remain licensed with the SFC. Any areas of
uncertainty or ambiguity should be resolved
in advance to enable a complete and accurate
MIC filing to be made by the deadline. However,
as in the case of many of its new regulatory
initiatives, it is expected that the SFC will
adopt a facilitative approach during the initial
implementation stage, provided the regulatory
filing deadline has been met.
Jeremy Lam
Partner
Deacons