FINRA Seeks to Require Members to Link to BrokerCheck

Amendments have also been proposed to the BrokerCheck Disclosure Rule 8312, making information easier to access regarding investment-related civil actions brought against associated persons by a state or foreign regulatory authority that have been dismissed pursuant to a settlement agreement.

FINRA also made changes to BrokerCheck in May, which included helping investors access broker-dealer and investment advisor registration information by providing:

• centralized access to licensing and registration information on current and former brokers and brokerage firms, and investment advisor representatives and investment advisor firms;
• the ability to search for and locate a financial services professional based on main office and branch locations, and the ability to conduct ZIP code radius searches (in increments of 5, 15 or 25 miles); and
• access to expanded educational content available on BrokerCheck, including new help icons that clarify commonly referenced terms throughout the system and within BrokerCheck reports.

After those changes were announced, Ketchum addressed concerns from brokers and advisors over whether their test scores would be revealed on BrokerCheck after the site’s recent revamp.

But Ketchum quelled those concerns by stating that test performance “is not the type of information [FINRA] is interested in disclosing.”