President of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association, Chen Zhihua: Virtual asset industry practitioner approval applications must be open and transparent

Techub News reports that Chen Zhihua, President of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association, stated that virtual asset license upgrade applicants and responsible persons (RO) who have already obtained upgrade qualifications are required to participate in a virtual asset regulation exam organized by a single institution. The exam is bundled with that institution’s courses, and the course materials cannot be reviewed at will. Registration and technical support are chaotic. This requirement has not been issued through formal documents or public guidelines but was communicated verbally or via individual emails, lacking transparency and fairness, increasing compliance costs for practitioners and affecting business development. The absence of a public consultation mechanism results in policy-making that lacks frontline feedback. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association recommends maintaining the original additional 5-hour Continuing Professional Training (CPT) system and urges regulators to immediately suspend the enforcement of exam requirements through covert policies, establish a transparent consultation mechanism, and incorporate stakeholder opinions into policy-making to ensure feasibility and market fairness.