Milestones

1997	May	Enactment of Estate Agents Ordinance (“EAO”)
	Nov	Establishment of the Estate Agents Authority (“EAA”)
	Nov	Dr the Hon Marvin Cheung Kin-tung, GBS, OBE, JP was appointed the founding Chairman of the EAA
1999	Jan	First batch of licences was granted to persons exempted from certain licensing requirements
	Jan	Issuance of Code of Ethics
	Mar	Held the first qualifying examinations for estate agents and salespersons
	Nov	Estate Agents Practice (General Duties and Hong Kong Residential Properties) Regulation came into effect
2001	Dec	End of the three-year transition period of the licnesing system – an important landmark in the trade's progress towards professionalism as all new entrants must fulfill all licensing requirements without exemption from then
2002	Jan	Estate Agents (Licensing) (Amendment) Regulation 2001 came into effect. Licence fees were reduced by 30% and qualified licensees were allowed to renew their licences within 24 months from the lapse of their last held licences
2003	Nov	Dr Steven Poon Kwok-lim, BBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2003	Dec	EAA delegation visited government officials in Beijing to reflect estate agents’ support for CEPA
2005	May	Launch of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Scheme (voluntary stage)
2005	Jul	Level of Estate Agents Qualifying Examination enhanced
2006	Mar	Introduction of Certificate of Attainment and Attainment symbol to encourage estate agents’ participation in CPD scheme
2006	Jul	Level of Salespersons Qualifying Examination enhanced
2007	Mar	Establishment of Section 28 Investigation Committee
2007	Nov	10^th Anniversary of the EAA
2008	Aug	Signing of agreement with the Guangzhou Real Estate Agent Service Administration Centre on Hong Kong practitioners obtaining a qualification to practise estate agency work in Guangzhou
2008	Nov	Ms Vivien Chan, SBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2009	May	Launch of an one-off, six-month licence fee concession scheme
2010	May	Issuance of new practice circulars regulating sales practices of first-hand properties
2010	Nov	Signing of agreement with the China Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and Agents ("CIREA") on mutual recognition of professional qualifications between Mainland and Hong Kong estate agents
2011	Jul	Completion of the first training course and examination for the scheme of mutual recognition of professional qualifications for estate agents in the Mainland and Hong Kong
2011	Aug	First focus group meeting was conducted to communicate and discuss with the frontline practitioners on different topics
2012	Mar	Publishing of Best Practice Checklist with ICAC jointly
	May	Issuance of practice circular on provision of "saleable area" for second-hand residential properties to take effect on 1 January 2013
	Sept	Launch of the EAA e-Learning platform
	Nov	15^th Anniversary of the EAA
2013	Mar	Launch of publicity campaign to promote information about "saleable area" and "estate agency agreement"
2013	Jun	Professional forum held to explore the direction of and opportunities brought by the professional development of estate agency trade
2014	Jan	Launch of New Scheme for Disciplinary Cases
	Apr	Publishing of Guide to Purchasing Second-hand Residential Properties with Consumer Council jointly
	Jul	Distribution of “Consumer Education Package” to the trade to help raise public awareness of the points to note when appointing estate agents
	Nov	Professor William Leung Wing-cheung, SBS, JP was appointed the Chairman of the EAA
2015	Mar	Awarded the “Caring Organisation” logo from the Hong Kong Council of Social Service
	Mar	Launch of a series of seminars on topics relating to first-hand residential properties for practitioners
	Sept	Launch of new consumer education initiative in the form of public seminars to enhance consumers' knowledge relating to property transactions
2016	May	Launch of e-Services for online licence renewal application by individual licensees
	May	Acknowledged as a “Manpower Developer” by the Employees Retraining Board
	Oct	Launch of the EAA's Certificate Programme in Practice
	Nov	Awarded the first batch of “Silver” Premium Symbol to eligible licensees under the CPD scheme
2017	Jan	Publication of disciplinary decisions together with the reasons for the decisions for achieving greater transparency
	Feb	Launch of a new consumer education website, "Be Smart in Appointing Estate Agents"
	Jun	Signing of agreement with the CIREA to renew the mutual recognition of professional qualifications scheme for estate agents in Hong Kong and the Mainland
	Nov	20^th Anniversary of the EAA

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