FSI Scores Advocacy Victory on FINRA BrokerCheck

Please see below for a story in AdvisorOne today stemming from FINRA announcing that test scores of advisors will not be shared on BrokerCheck. FSI weighed in with opposition to releasing the scores since advisors took the exams on a pass/fail basis - so posting scores years later would be unfair. We applaud FINRA for their prudence in this matter.

Read our comment letter from last April.

FINRA CEO: BrokerCheck Revamp Won't Include Test Scores

Regulator focused on increasing investors' use of broker search tool

By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

Richard Ketchum, chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), on Monday addressed concerns from brokers and advisors over whether their test scores would be revealed on BrokerCheck after the site's recent revamp.

Test performance “is not the type of information [FINRA] is interested in disclosing,” Ketchum said at FINRA's annual conference.

Right now, Ketchum told the nearly 1,000 attendees of the conference in Washington, nearly “90% of investors make decisions about the investment professionals without first using BrokerCheck. We want to change that by raising awareness of the tool and providing the kind of information that helps investors make good decisions.”

FINRA announced on May 17 its latest round of updates to BrokerCheck to help users more easily access broker-dealer and investment advisor registration information.

Read the complete story.