One of the most common investment adviser compliance questions related to the registered investment adviser (RIA) registration process is if the state of New York requires an individual investment adviser representative (IAR) to register? The official answer according to the New York State Office of the Attorney General is no. However, the state of New York does require the filing of the Form NY-IAQ along with meeting qualification requirements if the individual seeks to be registered to a state-registered investment advisory firm.
After the state of Minnesota’s recent adoption of the Form U4 system, presently, as of June 2014, the states of New York and Wyoming are the only states that do not participate in the Form U4 filing system. This is particularly relevant because this means that a search of the online individual Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database will not locate any individual registration information for an investment adviser representative who is only conducting business in the states of New York and/or Wyoming.
The Form NY-IAQ is a single page filing document specific to the state of New York which must be notarized and filed directly with the state. Presently, the state of New York does not allow the Form NY-IAQ to be searched publicly and thus there is no way to look up an individual IAR’s registration information.
The current qualification requirements for individual IARs at state-registered RIA firms are:
- Previously registered to a state-registered investment advisory firm in the state of New York for a period of 5 continuous years without any regulatory actions or arbitrations; or
- Previously registered to an RIA firm outside the state of New York for a period of 2 continuous years without any regulatory actions or arbitrations; or
- Holds a qualifying professional designation such as the Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC); or
- Has passed the Series 65 Examination within the past 2 years; or
- Has passed the Series 7 and Series 66 Examinations within the past 2 years.
Click here to access the official state of New York registration requirements made effective on August 6, 2003.
As RIA compliance consultants, we strongly recommend that any investment advisory firm presently or planning to conduct business in the state of New York review all relevant individual and firm registration requirements.