Your registration file follows you for your whole career, and the public can read most of it. Nearly every event in this lesson either belongs on that file or must reach your firm before it happens.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for broker-dealers and their employees. FINRA keeps a file on every registered person in the Central Registration Depository (CRD), and Forms U4 and U5 feed that file.
Form U4, the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer, is filed by your firm to register you with FINRA. It records your identity, five years of residential history, ten years of employment history, and your exams and registrations. Its disclosure questions ask about criminal, regulatory, civil, complaint, termination and financial history.
FINRA By-Laws Article V, Section 2(c) requires the U4 to be kept current at all times. The firm files an amendment within 30 days after learning of new facts.
Form U5, the Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration, closes the record when you leave.
Common mistakes
- Thirty days for every amendment. A statutory disqualification, such as a felony conviction, must reach the U4 within 10 days.
- A ten-year window for felonies. Felony and listed misdemeanor questions ask "ever"; only bankruptcies look back ten years.
- Using the old gift limit. A $150 gift is legal under Rule 3220. The $100 figure survives only for municipal advisors and bank dealers under G-20 until December 1, 2026.
Bottom line
- Form U4 amendments are due within 30 days of learning the facts, or 10 days for a statutory disqualification; Form U5 is due within 30 days of termination, with a copy to the person.
- Form U4 asks whether you were ever charged with or convicted of a felony or listed financial-related misdemeanor, about bankruptcies in the past 10 years and about current unsatisfied liens or judgments.
- Rule 1122 treats an omission like a false statement; a willful misstatement is a statutory disqualification and a crime, and late disclosures cost the firm $100 plus $40 a day, up to $2,460.
- Written complaints stay in the OSJ file 4 years; theft, misappropriation or forgery complaints go to FINRA within 30 calendar days; quarterly statistics are due by the 15th of the following month.
Exam shortcut
Scan each stem for three signals before reading the answers. First, who acts: the representative tells the firm, the firm files with FINRA, and SARs go to FinCEN. Second, which clock: 10 days only for a statutory disqualification, 30 for nearly everything else. Third, which firm: a municipal dealer means $250 for voters only, and an adviser means $350 or $150.
The full lesson (about 3,980 words, 27 min read) adds 2 worked examples, all 6 common mistakes, a self-check, free in the app.
Learning objectives
- D20
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