A person with a place of business in the District of Columbia who represents a federal covered investment adviser (FCA) or a state covered investment adviser (SCIA) in the District must obtain a license from the Securities Bureau of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB).
Federal Covered Adviser (FCA) & State Covered Investment Adviser (SCIA) Firms
FCAs must obtain an Investment Adviser Representative License for each employee or other person that represents the FCA to residents of the District, and has a place of business in the District of Columbia, regardless of the number of clients.
SCIAs that are licensed in the District of Columbia must obtain an Investment Adviser Representative (IAR) License for each employee or other person that represents the investment adviser to residents of the District.
The Investment Adviser must submit a Form U-4, the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer, and the initial license application fee of $45 to the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) for all persons who will act as Representatives of the Investment Adviser in the District. Please visit the IARD website for detailed guidance and instructions regarding electronic filing of Form U-4. To submit Form U-4 and register the investment adviser representative, please visit the IARD website.
There are a number of ways to fulfill the examination requirement of Rule 160 for IARs.
- Evidence of scoring a passing grade of either the Series 65 or the Series 7 and Series 66
- Evidence of being a current member in good standing of an organization that awards any one of the following professional designations: CFP, ChFC, PFS, CFA or CIC
- Waiver by DISB’s Securities Bureau of the examination requirement of Rule 160 for good cause shown, pursuant to written request, where the individual does not otherwise meet the Rule 160 requirements.
Applicants for Investment Adviser Representative License in the District of Columbia who do not have a fingerprint record on file with the CRD/IARD system must have their fingerprints processed as part of the application process, pursuant to District of Columbia legislation. If your firm is ineligible to submit fingerprints for processing through the CRD/IARD system, the firm, on behalf of the applicant, must contact Fieldprint Inc. and schedule an appointment for the applicant to be fingerprinted. Applicants must pay a onetime fingerprinting processing fee of $50.00 to Fieldprint at the time of the appointment. Fieldprint office locations may be found on its website at: fieldprint.com. To access DISB’s fingerprinting services at Fieldprint, enter DISB code – FPDOISecBank.