Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
A.
Examinations for securities agents. A passing grade on an examination
appropriate based upon the type of securities being sold, and the Uniform
Securities Agent State Law Examination (Series 63) or the Uniform Combined
State Law Exam (Series 66) or such other examination as may be designated by
the Securities Commissioner by rule or order, must be furnished, as proof, in
any application for registration as a principal of a broker-dealer or
registration as an agent. No person who has passed the designated examinations
shall again be required to pass another examination unless for a period of
twenty-four (24) or more consecutive months immediately preceding the date of
filing of the application he shall not have been registered as an agent, or as
a principal, officer or director of a broker-dealer. An upgrading in the type
of business being conducted by the agent or broker-dealer may require the
passing of a new examination.
B.
Examinations for investment advisers. As a condition of initial or renewal
registration, every applicant for registration as an investment adviser, an
investment adviser representative, or as a broker-dealer acting or proposing to
act as an investment adviser, shall furnish the Securities Commissioner proof
that he or she has obtained a passing score on the following examinations:
(1) The Uniform Investment Adviser Law
Examination (Series 65);
(2) The
General Securities Representative Examination (Series 7) and the Uniform
Combined State Law Examination (Series 66); or
(3) Such other examination as may be
designated by the Securities Commissioner by rule or order.
C. Exceptions from examination
requirements.
(1) If a person was registered
as an investment adviser or investment adviser representative in any
jurisdiction in the United States on January 1, 2000, and there has been no
period longer than two years since that date in which the person was not
registered as an investment adviser or investment adviser representative, that
person shall not be required to satisfy the examination requirements for
initial or continued registration, provided that the Securities Commissioner
may require additional examinations if the person is found to have violated the
South Carolina Uniform Securities Act of 2005.
(2) Any person who has been registered as an
investment adviser or investment adviser representative in any state requiring
the licensing, registration, or qualification of investment advisers or
investment adviser representatives within the two-year period immediately
preceding the date of filing of an application shall not be required to comply
with the examination requirement set forth in subsection B above, provided that
the person previously met the examination requirement in subsection B
above.
(3) An applicant who has
complied with the examination requirements in subsection B above within two
years prior to the date the application is filed with the Securities
Commissioner shall not be required to take and pass the required examination(s)
again.
(4) An applicant who is an
agent for a broker-dealer/investment adviser and who is not required by the
agent's home jurisdiction to make a separate filing on the Central Registration
Depository (CRD) system as an investment adviser representative, but who has
previously met the examination requirement in subsection B above, necessary to
provide advisory services on behalf of the broker-dealer/investment adviser,
shall not be required to take and pass the required examinations
again.
D. Waivers. The
examination requirements of Subsection B of this Rule are waived for an
individual who currently holds one or more of the following professional
designations:
(1) Certified Financial Planner
(CFP) issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards,
Inc.;
(2) Chartered Financial
Consultant (ChFC) awarded by the American College, Bryn Mawr,
Pennsylvania;
(3) Personal
Financial Specialists (PFS) administered by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants;
(4) Chartered
Financial Analyst (CFA) granted by the Association for Investment Management
and Research;
(5) Chartered
Investment Counselor (CIC) granted by the Investment Counsel Association of
America; or
(6) Such other
professional designation as the Securities Commissioner may by rule or order
recognize.
