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Credit Loan > Protecting Your Money - Checking Out Financial Services Brokers and Advisers
Securities laws in the U.S. require all investment advisers, brokers, and the companies they work for to be licensed and registered. Because of this it is easy to obtain information to make sure you are not dealing with someone who is fraudulent, disreputable, or unqualified.
First, you want to verify that the financial service representatives that are helping you with your investments are licensed and registered. If they are not, then you really can not know enough about them to determine if they are qualified, or if they can be trusted... Just walk away. Once you have determined that they are licensed and registered, you have a way to see if any of their customers have filed complaints against them, or if they have had trouble with regulators.
And, by dealing with registered and licensed agents and financial service firms, you have legal recourse if they go out of business. Even if you are able to get a favorable judgment against an unlicensed advisor, broker, or investment firm that goes out of business, there is no guarantee you will actually be able to collect. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) maintains the BrokerCheck database on all brokers and firms that are licensed by, and registered with, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Using this tool, you can not only discover if the company investing your money, and the brokers working for them, are licensed, but you will be able to see if they have had serious complaints filed against them, and if they have had run-ins with regulators.
You will also be able to see what kind of educational and work background that individual brokers have. BrokerCheck can be found at the FINRA website, www.finra.org; or you can call their toll free hotline at (800)289-9999. The SEC also hosts a searchable database on investment advisers at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Financial Services
There are many opportunities for you to make your money work for you by investing it wisely through a broker, or with the help of a financial services advisor. But how are you to know if the person you are handing your money over to is actually competent, or even trustworthy for that matter? Fortunately, there are some resources available to help you make better informed choices about the financial service professionals to entrust with your hard earned dollars.
Securities laws in the U.S. require all investment advisers, brokers, and the companies they work for to be licensed and registered. Because of this it is easy to obtain information to make sure you are not dealing with someone who is fraudulent, disreputable, or unqualified.
First, you want to verify that the financial service representatives that are helping you with your investments are licensed and registered. If they are not, then you really can not know enough about them to determine if they are qualified, or if they can be trusted... Just walk away. Once you have determined that they are licensed and registered, you have a way to see if any of their customers have filed complaints against them, or if they have had trouble with regulators.
And, by dealing with registered and licensed agents and financial service firms, you have legal recourse if they go out of business. Even if you are able to get a favorable judgment against an unlicensed advisor, broker, or investment firm that goes out of business, there is no guarantee you will actually be able to collect. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) maintains the BrokerCheck database on all brokers and firms that are licensed by, and registered with, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Using this tool, you can not only discover if the company investing your money, and the brokers working for them, are licensed, but you will be able to see if they have had serious complaints filed against them, and if they have had run-ins with regulators.
You will also be able to see what kind of educational and work background that individual brokers have. BrokerCheck can be found at the FINRA website, www.finra.org; or you can call their toll free hotline at (800)289-9999. The SEC also hosts a searchable database on investment advisers at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
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