The North American Securities Administrators Association said Wednesday that it has launched an Exam Validity Extension Program to allow eligible individuals to leave the industry for up to five years and maintain their Series 63 license, and is planning a similar extension for the Series 65.
The EVEP allows industry professionals "to maintain their state qualification exams for up to five years if they maintain compliance with their continuing education requirements and industry knowledge," NASAA President Andrew Hartnett said Wednesday in a statement.
The program, Hartnett said, "is designed to provide flexibility for currently registered persons who, due to various reasons, may need to leave and then return to the industry."
In April, NASAA adopted a new rule allowing states to permit investment advisor representatives to leave the securities industry for up to five years as long as they maintained their exam qualifications and completed certain annual continuing ed requirements.
In September 2022, NASAA adopted a broker-dealer exam validity model rule.
The BD and IAR model rule packages "provided a regulatory structure by which states could permit exam validity extensions," NASAA told ThinkAdvisor Wednesday. "But then we had to actually implement a program to accomplish this. That's what we've just completed; today's announcement means Broker-Dealer agents and IARs can actually begin signing-up for EVEP and taking advantage of the NASAA model rules in those states that have adopted them."
IARs, however, "still have to wait a bit; the EVEP program for them isn't up and running just yet," NASAA added.
EVEP Program Details
Eligible individuals may enroll in the EVEP through their Financial Professional Gateway (FinPro) account to extend their Series 63 exam validity for up to five years, and pay a $35 annual fee while maintaining CE requirements.
