PASSING EXAMS is not always easy. The 18th-century writer Charles Caleb Colton once said, 'Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.'
However, even passing examinations often represents only the base of a career mountain rather than its summit.
Take, for example, someone who has just passed the licensing examination for the financial services industry. Passing the licensing examination does not give that person the authority to actually practise.
Passing the examination is like getting a ticket to be a spectator at the bottom of a mountain. To start climbing the mountain, a person needs to be actually working for a firm recognised by the relevant regulating authority and also be granted a licence to practise by that regulating authority.
The Hong Kong Securities Institute offers its licensing examination on the mainland for professionals wishing to practise in Hong Kong.
The institute also offers the PRC Securities Regulations Examination in Hong Kong for professionals wishing to practise on the mainland.
This arrangement was made possible following the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) with the mainland in January 2004.