LicenseCompareFind route

Financial services licensing comparison

Compare financial licensing requirements across jurisdictions.

LicenseCompare helps you understand and compare securities, fund management, advisory, brokerage, and related licensing routes in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, the US, and Australia.

Compare jurisdictions Find your likely licence route

Official-source based

Decision tools

Register checks

A LicenseCompare workflow preview showing jurisdictions, licence routes, readiness, register checks, and official source monitoring.

Jurisdictions

Compare five regulatory routes

HK

Hong Kong

Securities and Futures Commission

SFC licensed corporation for Type 1 dealing in securities

SG

Singapore

Monetary Authority of Singapore

MAS Capital Markets Services licence for fund management

UK

United Kingdom

Financial Conduct Authority

FCA Part 4A authorisation for investment firms

US

United States

SEC / FINRA / state securities regulators

SEC investment adviser registration through IARD and Form ADV

AUS

Australia

Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Australian financial services licence for financial services business

Popular comparisons

Hong Kong vs Singapore for fund managers SFC Type 9 vs MAS CMS licence FCA authorisation vs SEC investment adviser registration Broker-dealer vs investment adviser routes in the US

Tools

Decision support before application spend

Licence Finder

Find possible routes and key questions.

Jurisdiction Comparison

Compare routes, people, capital, and watch-outs.

Application Readiness

Score your preparation before hiring advisers.

Timeline Estimator

Estimate timing and likely delay factors.

Official register monitoring

Open official registers in a new tab

Register links are treated as primary due diligence routes. LicenseCompare summarizes the path, then sends users to the regulator record for relevance checking.

Register directory

SFC Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered InstitutionsHong Kong - Checks current and historical SFC licensed persons, licensed corporations, and registered institutions.MAS Financial Institutions DirectorySingapore - Searches Singapore financial institutions, licence categories, status, and capital markets activities.FCA Financial Services RegisterUnited Kingdom - Checks authorised and registered firms, individuals, permissions, and warnings.IAPD and FINRA BrokerCheckUnited States - IAPD checks adviser firms and Form ADV filings; BrokerCheck checks brokers, brokerage firms, and investment adviser information.ASIC Professional Registers SearchAustralia - Checks AFS licensees, authorised representatives, credit licensees, auditors, liquidators, and registered schemes.

Latest guides

How to choose between Hong Kong and Singapore for an asset management licence

A practical decision guide for new asset managers comparing SFC Type 9 and Singapore MAS fund management routes.

SFC Type 1, Type 4 and Type 9 explained by business model

A practical mapping of Hong Kong SFC Type 1, Type 4 and Type 9 to dealing, advice, fund distribution, and portfolio management workflows.

Singapore MAS CMS licence: what new fund managers should understand

A decision-focused guide to MAS CMS licence issues for Singapore fund managers, representatives, client type, and application preparation.

UK FCA authorisation for investment firms: practical overview

How investment managers, advisers, and brokerage firms should think about FCA permissions, SM&CR, forecasts, CASS, and application evidence.

Official-source updates

FCA SM&CR page reflects April 2026 reform context

The FCA SM&CR landing page was source-checked on 2026-06-05 and showed a 24 April 2026 update marker. UK applicants should treat senior accountability mapping as current, not legacy, application evidence.

FINRA enhanced Form NMA transition is active in 2026

FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-09 states that enhanced Form NMA launched on 15 April 2026, with legacy draft transition steps before mid-July 2026.

ASIC AFSL applications are now portal-led

ASIC AFSL pages source-checked on 2026-06-05 state that new AFS licence applications, variations, cancellations, and certain changes are made through the ASIC Regulatory Portal.

SFC responsible officer and MIC expectations source-aligned

SFC licensing pages continue to frame responsible officers, senior management, and MIC accountability as central application evidence for licensed corporations.