How can you maintain your NASD licenses once leaving your firm?

October 6, 2007 9:55 AM

NASD licenses (specifically series 7 & 63) requires company sponsorship to obtain. Once obtained, you need company sponsorship to maintain the licenses. Is there a company who will maintain your licenses for you while you are not working in the financial industry? Perhaps for a fee on top of the annual registration costs? I believe you have two years from separation with your employer to obtain a new sponsor.
posted by lawstudent09 to work & money (5 comments total)

I have not heard of this, and would guess it would get your license suspended right quick if it existed. Not to mention it would be a nightmare in regards to having to give notification for non-broker jobs, security transactions, etc. The test is not simply a qualification test, but comes with a whole host of other things which you cannot do, due to broker status.

Have you taken the test yet? It is fairly easy. If you apply yourself you should be able to brush up on everything in a week, seriously.
posted by geoff. at 10:02 AM on October 6, 2007

Yes, FINRA requires you to affiliate with a member firm to maintain your Series 7 and 63, and you do indeed have the two-year period to find a firm before re-taking the exams.

I can't see why you'd need to worry about that two-year period, though. There's so much continuing education about the industry that, if you were to be out for more than two years, you'd want your new employer to be sure that you're up-to-date on how to properly sell securities.

(full disclosure: I review litigation involving financial planners who often fail to understand their changing industry and clients' needs. Please, please, please don't be one of these agents who sell securities without first getting to know your products and your customers!)
posted by salsamander at 10:31 AM on October 6, 2007

What you're asking for is someone to subvert NASD's two year rule, rendering it null.

If such a thing existed, if there were a company that did what you're talking about, don't you think NASD would find out and stop accepting it?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 1:06 PM on October 6, 2007

Extending what SCDB said... you don't want to 'hang' your license with anybody who will let you. Your u4/u5/Brokercheck show where you've been registered in previous years. If you've got some chump B/D listed you'll only want to hide it later if you ever start from scratch as a salesperson. Plus the fact that association with a bad B/D can be a black mark to some hiring managers. Let 'em lapse and test again later if you're out 2 years. It's not that bad.
posted by powpow at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2007

I don't know where you are, but you used to be able to house your NASD licenses with the state of California if you were practising in California, and I don't remember them ever checking up on anyone in any organized fashion. My stepdad did this about 7-8 years ago, so it's not ancient history. Worth checking out.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:23 PM on October 6, 2007