How to Check a Broker's Licence and Real Contact Details

You check a broker's licence by looking the firm up on the SFC Public Register, and you check its identity by confirming the official contact route independently before any money moves. This matters to anyone in Hong Kong who is opening a brokerage account, weighing an investment pitch, or checking whether a "broker" who cold-called them is genuine.

What the SFC Public Register shows

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is Hong Kong's regulator for the securities and futures markets. The SFC Public Register is the SFC's free online record of licensed or registered firms and individuals, showing the legal entity, its licensing or registration status, and the regulated activities it may conduct. A regulated activity is a specific category of regulated business a firm is permitted to carry out. According to the source material (SFC Public Register, retrieved 9 October 2026), a name match alone is not sufficient: you should also verify the official contact route and the permitted activity, and remember that licensing is not a guarantee of returns or protection from every loss.

Worked example: a firm that contacts you first

Every name, number, date and amount below is an illustrative figure used for teaching only — none is a real firm's details.

  1. The approach. Someone claiming to represent "Example Securities Limited" asks for a HKD 10,000 initial deposit (illustrative) by bank transfer on 15 June (illustrative).
  2. Search by name. You search "Example Securities Limited" on the register and an entry appears. You have not finished: a clone firm, meaning a fraudster that copies a real licensed firm's name, relies on people stopping at this step.
  3. Match the unique identifier. The register lists each firm's own unique reference identifier (often called the CE number, the Central Entity number assigned to a licensed firm — this description is this article's explanation; confirm the identifier format on the register itself). The number quoted in the caller's email signature matches the register entry. If it did not match, the process would end there and you would not pay.
  4. Check the regulated activity. The register entry lists the firm's permitted regulated activities — for illustration, say dealing in securities. The service you were offered, for example portfolio management, must fall within a listed activity; if it does not, the licence does not cover that offer.
  5. Verify contact details independently. You do not call the number in the email. You take the contact route shown on the register or the firm's official website, call it, and ask whether the person who approached you is their staff member.
  6. Before paying. If all checks pass and you still choose to proceed, verify the deposit instructions and receiving account through the firm's independently confirmed official contact route. Check your own account will hold at least HKD 10,000 plus any applicable transfer fees on the payment date of 15 June (illustrative), and record the amount, date and payee name before sending.

Even if every step passes, licensing is not a guarantee of returns or protection from every loss (source: SFC Public Register, retrieved 9 October 2026).

Common mistakes and the correct reading

  • Mistake: "The name is on the register, so the firm is genuine." Correct reading: clone firms copy real names; match the unique identifier and the official contact route as well.
  • Mistake: "Licensed means my returns are assured." Correct reading: licensing is not a guarantee of returns or protection from every loss.
  • Mistake: "I verified by calling the number in their email." Correct reading: the contact details in the approach message may reach the fraudster; use the route found independently on the register or the official website.
  • Mistake: "A licence covers everything the firm offers." Correct reading: only the regulated activities listed on the register are permitted; an offer outside those activities is not covered by that licence.

Checklist: what to do next

  • Search the SFC Public Register via the SFC website using the full legal entity name; source data as of 9 October 2026.
  • Match the unique identifier and confirm a listed regulated activity covers the service offered.
  • Find the official phone or website independently, and confirm the person who contacted you is real staff.
  • Before any deposit: the payee and account match the independently verified official deposit instructions, and your account has sufficient funds on the actual payment date.
  • Remember that licensing is not a guarantee of returns; re-check official documents as terms change.
  • Browse broker listings on Jolvex when you compare products.

About this article

This article is AI-generated. It is educational, is not investment or lending advice, and does not describe any specific product's terms.