SEC Approves FINRA’s Streamlined Securities Competency Exams for Industry Professionals and Consolidated Registration Rules

Securities FINRA SEC

On October 5, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced SEC approval of its proposal to consolidate certain registration rules and streamline competency exams for professionals entering or re-entering the securities industry. Under Regulatory Notice 17-30, the NASD and NYSE incorporated registration rules are now consolidated as “FINRA rules” to provide member firms “consistency and uniformity.” The rules will allow member firms to permissively register all associated persons of a firm and establish waiver programs for registered employees who “move to a financial services industry affiliate of a member firm.” Further, as previously discussed in an InfoBytes post concerning the proposed rule, FINRA’s new streamlined examination structure is designed to eliminate duplicative testing and remove outdated categories. The changes include a general knowledge examination that all new representative-level applicants will be required to pass, in addition to a revised qualification examination appropriate to their job functions. Changes to FINRA’s continuing education requirements have also been made. The rule takes effect October 1, 2018.