New Application Service Provider Licence Application Procedures
Notes:
1. An application is deemed to have been formally lodged with HKEX-IS when the applicant formally submitted Form P1, Form P2 and Form P3. A letter of acknowledgement (“Letter P1”) of the submission of Form P1, Form P2 and Form P3 will be issued.
2. After Form P1, Form P2 and Form P3 are considered duly completed and at the preliminary assessment by HKEX-IS that the applicant is fit for licence, HKEX-IS will issue a confirmation letter (“Letter Q1”) to the applicant. Upon receipt of Letter Q1, the applicant is required to:
- Pay the One-Off Connection Fee(s) required for the real-time Datafeed(s), if applicable;
- Provide information required under the Market Data Application Service Provider Licence Agreement (e.g. authorized signature details, Contact Update Form); and
- Arrange with network carrier or hosting team for line installation respectively. Please refer to On-boarding procedure and Checklist for more details.
The applicant has to provide all information required under Form P1, Form P2, Form P3 and Letter Q1 and to pay the One-Off Connection Fee for each datafeed product normally within a period of 4 months from the date of Letter P1. HKEX-IS may grant an extension of no longer than 2 months on the merit of individual cases at the request of the applicant. Otherwise, the application will lapse. No new application from the same applicant will be considered within 6 months from the lapse date.
The application will be presented to the senior management for approval upon receipt of the One-Off Connection Fee(s) and the information required under Letter Q1; result of the application will normally be available in two weeks.
The One-Off Connection Fee(s) is not refundable.
3. Upon receipt of the applicant’s One-Off Connection Fee(s), a Provisional Approval Letter will be issued and the approval will be conditional. The applicant may then proceed with the Readiness / Certification Test which must be completed normally within 4 months from the issuance of the Provisional Approval Letter. Extension of the Readiness / Certification Test period may be considered and granted by HKEX-IS on a case by case basis. The Market Data Application Service Provider Licence Agreement will be issued to the applicant for execution after the completion of its Readiness / Certification Test and subject to the confirmation of the Datafeed Commencement Date.
4. Datafeed Commencement Date: The Datafeed Commencement Date must be within 10 months from the date of Letter P1, meaning that the applicant must complete the Readiness / Certification Test within the time frame.