Background
A critical part of the registration process in the securities industry is the background investigation of applicants for registration and the timely and accurate reporting of information to the Central Registration Depository (CRD) system via the Form U4 (Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer).
When a firm wants to hire a registered representative, it
Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 (Customer Protection Rule) imposes requirements on member firms that are designed to protect customer funds and securities. Member firms are obligated to maintain custody of customers’ fully paid and excess margin securities, and safeguard customer funds by segregating these assets from the firm’s proprietary business activities and promptly delivering them to the customer upon request. Member firms can satisfy these requirements by keeping customer funds in a special reserve bank account and by maintaining customer securities in their physical possession or in a good control location, as specified in Rule 15c3-3. Member firms are required to maintain a reserve of cash or qualified securities in the special reserve bank account that is at least equal in value to the net cash owed to customers, including cash obtained from the use of customer securities. The amount of net cash owed to customers is computed pursuant to the formula set forth in Exhibit A to Rule 15c3-3.
