HKICPA, the CFA and qualifying as a solicitor

The notes below cover the entry point and the main thresholds of 3 common professional routes: the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) Qualification Programme (QP), the place of the CFA in the licensing regime of the Securities and Futures Commission, and the 2 routes to qualification as a solicitor in Hong Kong. They follow the HKICPA pages on QP entry requirements, on exemption at Associate Level, on accredited conversion programmes, and on the time requirements for practical experience; the Securities and Futures Commission Guidelines on Competence (October 2024 edition) and Appendix C; the Law Society of Hong Kong, Becoming a Solicitor (February 2023 edition), and the Law Society page on the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination; and the Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training page on the PCLL Conversion Examination. Checked 19 October 2026. Examination dates and enrolment periods are not set out here. Follow each body's own announcement.

The HKICPA Qualification Programme

1. To register as a student:
   1. You are at least 16, and of good character.
   2. You hold at least a higher diploma or an associate degree at Level 4 or above of the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework (or an equivalent qualification), awarded by an institution the Institute recognises. That admits you to the Associate Level.
2. You may enrol from any academic background. The route is not limited to accounting.
3. A non-local sub-degree must be assessed as reaching Qualifications Framework Level 4 or above. Otherwise you cannot register on the strength of it.
4. There is another route if you do not meet the entry requirements. You are at least 25, you have at least 5 years of relevant work experience, and you meet the Diploma of Secondary Education (or equivalent) entry requirement of a higher diploma or associate degree programme. This route carries no exemption.
5. The Associate Level has 10 modules (Module 1 to Module 10). The ceilings on exemption are:
   1. A degree holder: at most 10 modules.
   2. A Hong Kong sub-degree: at most 5 modules (Module 1 to Module 5).
   3. An accredited conversion programme can give an exemption.
   4. Examinations of a recognised professional accountancy body: at most 9 modules. The recognised bodies include ACCA, AICPA, CAANZ, the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, ICAEW, CIMA, ICAS, and CPA Canada.
6. A module that is not exempted can be completed by a QP examination, or by taking the corresponding subject in a programme the Institute recognises.
7. An application for exemption has to be submitted in one go. The same qualification will not be accepted for a second application. A further application is possible only on a different qualification.
8. Accredited conversion programmes. From 1 January 2026 there are 4 categories of accredited status:
   1. All of Module 1 to Module 10 may be exempted.
   2. Module 1 to Module 6, and any 2 of Module 7 to Module 10, may be exempted.
   3. Another combination, of at least 5 modules.
   4. Another combination, of 2 to 4 modules.

Conversion programmes that some accounting firms run for their own staff are also on the accredited list.

1. The exemption fee. If you apply within 2 years of graduating from an accredited programme, the fee is charged for at most 5 modules. For a programme that is not accredited, a fee is charged for every module. The amounts are those on the Institute's website.

Practical experience for the HKICPA

1. What counts. Experience gained as an employee of a practising certified public accountant, or in a finance department or a management accounting department (or a similar department) of a commercial organisation or a public-sector organisation. It may be gained in Hong Kong or elsewhere (by-law 41(3) of the Professional Accountants By-laws).
2. Length, and working days:
   1. A holder of a recognised degree, or a QP student who has completed the Associate Level: 3 years, and 500 working days.
   2. A holder of a recognised accountancy diploma: 4 years, and 670 working days.
   3. Any other qualification: 5 years, and 830 working days.
3. Other time requirements:
   1. At least 130 working days in each year.
   2. At least 75 working days in each technical area you select.
   3. At least half of the working days (that is, 250 days) must reach proficiency level 3.
   4. At most 40 hours of relevant training in a year may be counted as working days.
   5. One working day is 8 hours. Hours may be accumulated.
4. At most 3 employments. One of them may be shorter than 12 months.
5. A limit of 10 years. The practical experience must have been gained within the 10 years before you apply for membership.

When you choose a post, confirm that the work is in the nature of finance, audit, or management accounting, and that a qualified supervisor records the experience. Changing jobs often runs into the limit of at most 3 employments.

Where the CFA sits in the SFC regime

1. The CFA is not a statutory practising qualification in Hong Kong. To carry on a regulated activity you still apply to the Securities and Futures Commission for a licence. Licences, and the HKSI examinations, are in the earlier notes.
2. Appendix C to the Guidelines on Competence (the appendix is marked as updated on 1 June 2011) lists, in the table of recognised industry qualifications for a licensed representative, and in the United States column, "Chartered Financial Analyst Exam Level 1 Passed". It applies to regulated activities of Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 5, Type 6, Type 8, and Type 9. The table of recognised industry qualifications for a responsible officer does not list the CFA.
3. A recognised industry qualification meets only part of the competence requirements. You still have to pass the corresponding local regulatory examination (the right-hand column of the table in Appendix C, for example HKSI Paper 1), and you still have to meet the other competence requirements.
4. On the academic and professional qualification route, the Guidelines on Competence list the CFA, the CIIA, and the CFP as examples of financial qualifications that are recognised internationally.
5. The FRM is not listed in the recognised industry qualification table in Appendix C (checked 19 October 2026).
6. What this means for you. Holding CFA Level 1 or above can reduce the number of HKSI papers. It does not remove the local regulatory examination. The exact combination follows the latest requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission and of HKSI.

Two routes to qualification as a solicitor

1. The trainee solicitor route:
   1. Complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL), and pass it. PCLL, as defined in section 2(1) of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance, is awarded only by the University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
   2. Then complete a trainee solicitor contract of 2 years in a Hong Kong solicitors' firm.
2. Before you can enter the PCLL, you must show competence in 9 core subjects: contract, tort, constitutional law, criminal law, land law, equity, evidence, business associations, and commercial law. If you did not study the LLB or the JD at one of the 3 universities in Hong Kong, you must also show competence in 3 top-up subjects: Hong Kong constitutional law, Hong Kong legal system, and Hong Kong land law.
3. A holder of a non-Hong Kong law degree may show the core subjects in any of these ways:
   1. As part of that non-Hong Kong common law qualification.
   2. By taking the subject, and passing the examination, as a visiting "internal" student at one of the 3 universities in Hong Kong.
   3. By passing the corresponding subject in the PCLL Conversion Examination.
   4. As part of the HKU SPACE Advanced Diploma for Legal Executives (Graduate Level).
4. The Conversion Examination offers only 6 subjects: commercial law, evidence, and business associations from the core subjects, plus the 3 top-up subjects. The other 6 core subjects (contract, tort, constitutional law, criminal law, land law, and equity) must be completed inside the main law qualification. There is no mandatory conversion course. You may prepare on your own and sit the examination. If the main law qualification does not contain these 6 common law core subjects, the Conversion Examination cannot supply them.
5. The training contract:
   1. You must gain experience in at least 3 areas of practice.
   2. With the prior approval of the Law Society, you may be seconded to another solicitors' firm in Hong Kong for not more than 12 months. You may be seconded to an overseas law firm for not more than 6 months, or to a Hong Kong company (including a government department and a non-governmental organisation) for not more than 6 months.
   3. If you have 3 years of relevant work experience, the contract may be shortened by 1 month. Each further year shortens it by another 1 month. The maximum reduction is 6 months.
6. The overseas lawyer route, the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination:
   1. You are entitled to practise in an overseas jurisdiction, and you are in good standing there.
   2. A common law jurisdiction: at least 2 years of practice after you qualified. The training period may be included.
   3. A jurisdiction that is not a common law jurisdiction: at least 5 years of practice.
   4. You must already have the required experience when you submit the application.
   5. A candidate from a common law jurisdiction sits 5 written papers. A candidate from a jurisdiction that is not a common law jurisdiction sits those papers and an oral examination as well. The written papers include conveyancing, civil and criminal procedure, commercial and company law, accounts and professional conduct, and principles of common law.
   6. When you are admitted, you must meet one of the residence conditions. Examples are that you have already lived in Hong Kong for at least 3 months before the application, or that you intend to live in Hong Kong for at least 3 months after admission.

Whether a jurisdiction is a common law jurisdiction follows the list published by the Law Society.

How to choose and plan

1. Accounting. First confirm how many Associate modules your qualification can exempt. Then decide whether to sit the QP examinations or to take an accredited conversion programme. At the same time, look for a post that meets the definition of practical experience.
2. Finance. The CFA helps with the combination of papers for the licensing examinations. You still have to meet the licensing requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission. Check Appendix C for the type of regulated activity you are aiming at.
3. Law. First check whether your law degree covers the 6 of the 9 core subjects that the Conversion Examination cannot make up. If you already practise in another jurisdiction, weigh whether the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination is the more direct route.
4. The visa. For the visa position while you train or serve a traineeship in Hong Kong, check the visa notes in the first set, and the notes in this set on dependants and on technology talent.

Sources

• Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, pages on pre-entry education, module exemption at Associate Level, accredited conversion programmes, and the overview for QP students on time requirements (checked 19 October 2026)
• Securities and Futures Commission, Guidelines on Competence (October 2024 edition), and Appendix C (the appendix is marked as updated on 1 June 2011, checked 19 October 2026)
• Law Society of Hong Kong, Becoming a Solicitor (February 2023 edition, checked 19 October 2026)
• Law Society of Hong Kong, pages on the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination (checked 19 October 2026)
• Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training, Conversion Examination page (checked 19 October 2026)