HKSI Paper 8: what it covers, pass mark and how to prepare

HKSI Licensing Examination Paper 8, Securities, tests the working knowledge of the securities business: Hong Kong and global markets, listings and the secondary market, market participants, types of securities and derivatives, trading and settlement, and fundamental and technical analysis. It has 40 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, and you need 70%, or 28 correct answers. HKSI's published average pass rate for October 2025 to September 2026 was about 65%.

Exam format

From the HKSI Licensing Examination page, checked in November 2026.

Item	Paper 8
Questions	40 multiple-choice
Time	60 minutes
Pass mark	70% (28 of 40, by arithmetic)
Mode	Computer-based, at the Hong Kong Examination Centre or a global examination centre
Language	Questions in English and Traditional Chinese; the system interface is in English
Hong Kong sessions	Monthly
Fee (2026)	HKD1,620 in Hong Kong; HKD2,070 at global centres
Calculator	Approved models or the on-screen calculator

HKSI's June 2024 handbook listed Paper 8 at HKD1,330, so check the current fee before you enrol. See HKSI exam registration and fees.

What Paper 8 covers

The syllabus currently linked by HKSI took effect on 1 March 2026 and has six topics. In summary:

1. Overview of securities investment: equity, debt and derivatives markets; features and sectors of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong; Mainland, US, European and Asian markets; the effect of interest rates, exchange rates, inflation and policy; and how indices such as the Hang Seng Index are calculated.
2. Primary and secondary markets: why companies list, the IPO process and listing methods, the roles of advisers, roadshows and prospectuses, then corporate actions, clearing, market surveillance and disclosure after listing.
3. Market participants: brokers, traders, analysts, institutional and retail investors, arbitrageurs, advisers, rating agencies, custodians, share registrars, HKEX and its subsidiaries, and the regulators.
4. Types of securities: ordinary and preference shares, bonus and rights shares, warrants, margin financing, stock lending, unit trusts, ETFs and leveraged and inverse products, REITs, depositary receipts, short- and long-term debt, security tokens, and futures, forwards, options, swaps and structured products, including option pricing, risk parameters and basic strategies.
5. Stock market administration: the trading platform and procedures, clearing and settlement, trading costs, records and internal audit, conduct of business, risk management and technology.
6. Securities analysis: top-down and bottom-up analysis, industry analysis, financial ratios, equity valuation, charts and technical indicators, and stock selection metrics.

HKSI has announced that the Paper 8 study guide is updated for examinations from 9 December 2026. If you sit on or after that date, follow the latest HKSI announcement and the study guide you receive on enrolment.

Is Paper 8 hard?

HKSI's Hong Kong pass rates for Paper 8 averaged 65.38% from October 2025 to September 2026. The best month was November 2025 at 88.89%; the lowest was March 2026 at 55.56%; September 2026 was 59.79%. Paper 1 averaged 49.98% and Paper 7 67.01% over the same period. Paper 8 is shorter, but Topic 4 is wide and there are calculations, such as trading costs, bond prices and financial ratios.

Key point: With 40 questions and a pass line of 28, you can get only 12 wrong. Each question is worth 2.5% of the paper, more than in Papers 1 and 7.

Who needs Paper 8?

Under the SFC's Guidelines on Competence and HKSI's paper combinations, representatives in Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 8 (securities margin financing) need Papers 7 and 8 as their industry qualification, plus Paper 1. Responsible officers need Papers 1, 2, 7 and 8. Bank staff doing this work as relevant individuals, such as relationship managers handling securities or investment advice, meet the same requirements.

A representative with a degree in accounting, business administration, economics, finance or law, or a recognised professional qualification, generally needs only Paper 1. Even so, some bank relationship manager adverts ask for Papers 1, 7 and 8. See is a securities licence worth it and which HKSI papers you need.

How to prepare

• Break Topic 4 into parts. Equity products, debt instruments and derivatives are each a block of their own, and options add pricing factors and strategies.
• Learn the Hong Kong mechanics. The syllabus expects you to apply trading and settlement rules to scenarios and to calculate trading costs. Practise with worked examples.
• Use the overlap with Paper 7. Both cover equities, debt and derivatives. It can save time to sit Paper 7 first and Paper 8 soon after.
• Practise under time. Sixty minutes for 40 questions is 1.5 minutes each. ExamDuck offers bilingual practice and timed mocks.
• Set a schedule. See how long to study for Papers 1 and 7.

Most representatives also need Paper 1.