NASAA Proposes CE Requirement for Investment Advisor Reps

The Ethics and Professional Responsibility component is designed to ensure "ongoing knowledge and competency related to an IAR's duties and obligations to his or her clients, including, but not limited to, issues related to the fiduciary duty owed to each client."

IARs "play an important role in the financial lives of millions of Americans, yet unlike most financial services professions they are not required to meet a continuing education requirement to maintain their licenses to work with investors," said Indiana Securities Commissioner Alex Glass, chair of NASAA's Investment Adviser Section.

Working with a leading education and testing vendor, NASAA in 2017 surveyed state securities regulators about an IAR CE program.

Given the strong support among state securities regulators, NASAA says, it launched the industry-focused survey in early 2018 and met with industry and regulatory stakeholders to discuss IAR CE. "This outreach also demonstrated significant support for the creation of a mandatory IAR CE program."

Linda Cena, chair of NASAA's IAR CE Committee and Examination and registration manager for the Michigan Corporation, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau, added that "this type of regulatory initiative benefits greatly from input. We look forward to receiving additional feedback through the public comment period to ensure that any final continuing education program and accompanying model rule properly addresses both investor protection and industry impact."

— Check out Demystifying RIA/IAR Legal Requirements on ThinkAdvisor.