FAQs on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for MPF Intermediaries

1.	What is the CPD requirement for MPF individual intermediaries?
	Answer:	An individual intermediary is required to undertake a minimum of 10 hours of CPD activities in each calendar year. At least 20% of the minimum CPD hour requirement must be devoted to core subject areas such as the MPF or related legislation, relevant codes and guidelines, and the latest developments of the MPF System.
2.	What activities can individual intermediaries participate in order to attain core CPD hours?
	Answer:	Only activities that have obtained prior recognition from the MPFA and are organized by the following course providers will be recognized as core CPD hours: (a) MPFA; (b) the relevant regulators (Insurance Authority (IA), Monetary Authority (MA), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)); (c) institutions or professional bodies recognized by the MPFA as core CPD activity providers (see question 3 below); (d) institutions whose CPD activities have been accredited under IA's CPD programme; or (e) recognized institutions approved under SFC's Continuous Professional Training programme.
3.	What organizations do the MPFA consider as "recognized institutions/professional bodies"?
	Answer:	Currently, "recognized institutions/professional bodies" include: (a) The Caritas Adult Higher Education Service; (b) The Management and Executive Development Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; (c) The Hong Kong Securities Institute; (d) The School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong; (e) The Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association; (f) Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge of Vocational Training Council; (g) LexisNexis; and (h) Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong The MPFA updates the website whenever a new recognized institution/professional body is approved.
4.	Does the MPFA recognize the internal training organized by service providers as CPD activities?
	Answer:	For core subject areas, individual intermediaries must participate in CPD activities as mentioned in Question 2. For non-core subjects, it is not mandatory to attend activities organized by the recognized institutions/professional bodies. Internal training is acceptable, but the corporate intermediary is responsible for ensuring that such training is of appropriate relevance and standard for the CPD.
5.	Services providers provide internal training to their staff and intend to submit course materials under the Insurance Authority's CPD programme for accreditation. Does the MPFA recognize such internal training as a core CPD activity?
	Answer:	For core subject areas, individual intermediaries can participate in courses accredited under the Insurance Authority's CPD programme, provided such courses have MPF-focused content and are recognized by the MPFA. Service providers with internal training that has been successfully accredited by the Insurance Authority can submit the relevant course information to the MPFA for consideration of recognition.
6.	Will the attendance of training courses prior to the effective date of the CPD be recognized for CPD purposes?
	Answer:	No. Attendance of training courses prior to the CPD effective date will not be recognized. CPD compliance should start from the CPD implementation date on 1 January 2002.
7.	Will study hours used in preparing for the MPF intermediaries examination be counted as CPD hours?
	Answer:	Study hours used in preparing for the MPF intermediaries examination cannot be counted as CPD hours.
8.	Will seminars organized by the relevant regulators/professional bodies be recognized for CPD purposes?
	Answer:	For core subject areas, individual intermediaries must participate in CPD activities as mentioned in Question 2. Seminars organized by the relevant regulators/professional bodies may be recognized for CPD purposes if the content is relevant to the non-core subject areas.
9.	Will attending a Putonghua course be recognized as a CPD activity?
	Answer:	Yes, it will be classified as a non-core subject area.
10.	How should an MPF intermediary report the number of CPD hours undertaken during the year?
	Answer:	A corporate intermediary is required to report in the annual return to the MPFA those individual intermediaries (of whom it acts as the primary sponsoring corporation) who had failed to achieve the minimum CPD requirement in the preceding calendar year. An individual intermediary is required to report to his primary sponsoring corporation his attainment of CPD hours in the preceding calendar year.
11.	Does a corporate intermediary need to submit all CPD attendance evidence to the MPFA?
	Answer:	A corporate intermediary is not required to submit all CPD attendance evidence to the MPFA. However, the corporate intermediary is expected to satisfy itself of the CPD compliance and maintain sufficient records of CPD activities undertaken by its sponsored intermediaries. Where necessary, the intermediary should be able to produce record to prove the CPD compliance.
12.	If an individual intermediary changes employment from one corporate intermediary to another (with a gap in between), what is the CPD requirement?
	Answer:	The individual intermediary is responsible for: calculating the number of requisite CPD hours for the period in which he is a registered MPF intermediary and ensure that he has complied with the requirement. For example, if an intermediary left his previous employment and de-registered in March 2002, then re-registered as an MPF intermediary in August 2002, the requisite CPD hours during the period whilst he was a registered MPF intermediary, calculated on a pro-rata basis, were 7 hours (3 CPD hours for the period January-March 2002; 4 CPD hours for the period August-December 2002). Of these 7 hours, 2 should be core CPD hours and 5 should be non-core CPD hours. Hence, he has to attain 7 CPD hours for the calendar year 2002; notifying his sponsoring corporation regarding the number of CPD hours required and completed during his previous registration; and providing evidence on CPD activities e.g. certificates of attendance or examination result issued by CPD course providers, to his sponsoring corporation in support of his application.
13.	How can an individual satisfy the MPFA with respect to CPD compliance if he wishes to re-apply for registration as an MPF intermediary?
	Answer:	If a person has previously been registered as an MPF intermediary prior to his re-application, he is required to comply with the CPD requirement during his period of registration before he submits his re-application. The period concerned will be the calendar year of his re-application and the past three calendar years before the re-application. The period during which the applicant is not registered as an MPF intermediary will be excluded from calculation of the CPD requirement.
14.	If an individual failed to comply with the CPD requirement during his period of registration, what can he do?
	Answer:	If an individual failed to comply with the CPD requirement during his period of registration, he should rectify his CPD non-compliance prior to submitting an application for re-application/renewal. Otherwise, the MPFA will not approve his re-application/application for renewal.