Effective January 1, 2022, certain states have adopted rules requiring continuing education (“CE”) for Investment Adviser Representatives (“IAR’s”) registered in their jurisdiction. The states that recently enacted this requirement are Maryland, Mississippi, and Vermont.
While more states are expected to follow in 2023, if you are registered as an IAR in one of the above states, this requirement goes into effect for you this year.
STATE CE REQUIREMENT
Annually, IARs registered in these jurisdictions will be required to meet their state’s CE requirements. Note: individuals who maintain an IAR registration in multiple states will be in compliance if their home state has CE requirements that are at least as stringent as the model rule and the IAR is in compliance with their home state’s requirements. See the NASAA[1] FAQ page (noted below) for additional details.
Unlike the FINRA regulatory CE or the annual Firm Element CE, you are responsible for enrolling and completing your IAR CE courses with an approved provider. ESI will not enroll or track these courses for you. Course providers are responsible for reporting completion directly to FINRA, which serves as NASAA’s vendor for tracking.
IARs must attain 12 CE credits each calendar year to maintain their registration. A “credit” is a unit that has been designated by NASAA to be at least 50 minutes of educational instruction. The 12 credits must include 6 credits of Products and Practices and 6 credits of Ethics and Professional Responsibility. The rule does not allow for any carry forward of extra credit hours, nor does it allow for duplicate courses to be credited.
Individuals who fail to complete their CE before the prescribed deadline will be automatically designated as “CE Inactive”. If you remain CE inactive for 30 calendar days, your IAR registration may be terminated. Newly-registered IARs are exempt from the CE requirement for the remainder of the calendar year in which they register, and have until the end of the following calendar year to fulfill the requirement. Transferring IARs remain subject to the CE requirement regardless of at what point in the year they change firms.
IAR CE Resources
You can check your IAR CE status by viewing your FinPro profile. New users of FinPro will need to register at https://finpro.finra.org/registerUser/. If you have an existing FinPro account, you can log in at https://finpro.finra.org.
Additionally, NASAA has a resource page, with FAQs, at: IAR Continuing Education FAQ – NASAA.
QUESTIONS
Questions regarding this notice may be directed to ESI Licensing at 800-344-7437.
[1] NASAA = North American Securities Administrators Association
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