FINRA licensing

August 7, 2008 8:45 AM

Is there a company or regulatory organization that will maintain NASD licenses (Series 7, 8, 63, 66) while not in the employ of a broker-dealer? I know with the major i-banks you can keep them for only two years if separated from the firm but some smaller firms allow employees to take the license with them indefinitly. This leads me to believe that the licenses can be housed elsewhere and one would pay some sort of annual fee to keep them current. I am not certain but I would think it is a violation of NASD/FINRA.
posted by johannahdeschanel to Law & Government (3 answers total)

Best answer: You should post your question to the forums at Registered Rep.

There are a huge amount of independent broker/dealers and RIAs out there and plenty of them are just one-person shops. Many of these firms will "plug in" to larger broker/dealers like LPL, Wachovia FiNet and Raymond James for services they can't provide themselves (trading, access to mutual funds, technology, custodial stuff, etc). I don't know how the licensing works though since I am not a financial advisor myself. But the registerrep.com forums seem to have very helpful people who are (of course, just like with AskMe, you need to take their advice with a grain of salt and consult with an attorney before you make any big moves).
posted by mullacc at 9:55 AM on August 7, 2008

A similar question was asked in October of 2007. It looks like the answer is no.
posted by taojones at 11:06 AM on August 7, 2008

It absolutely is a violation, called "registration parking." A broker-dealer can only maintain the registrations of people who are associated with it AND acting in the capacity in which registered. While part-time work is perfectly legal, and it still would need to be a bona fide working relationship. Your paying for the privilege of being registered would be a great piece of evidence that it wasn't a bona fide relationship.

(And I am not your broker-dealer compliance lawyer, etc...)
posted by MattD at 12:22 PM on August 7, 2008