Securities & Franchising

Common Tasks

• Lists of Licensees -- Broker-Dealers, Agents, Investment Advisers, Investment Adviser Representatives
• Access signed copies of Securities Administrative Orders Issued
• Complaints and Enforcement
• Franchising
• Licensing
• Registration and Exemption

What's New

• Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities
  In an effort to warn the public about these entities, the SEC is publishing information it has learned in reviewing the complaints. For each of the entities named on the list, SEC staff has determined either
  1. that there is no US registered securities firm with this name, or
  2. that there is a US registered securities firm with the same (or a similar) name but that solicitations appear to have been made by persons who are not affiliated with the US registered securities firm.

  The SEC will regularly update this list. This list does not include all unregistered entities or entities that have been the subject of complaints received by the SEC.

• Securities 2008 Renewal Forms are now available
  Information regarding filing for renewal of state investment adviser and federal covered adviser branch offices is available on the Division of Securities Forms page. All state licensed investment adviser branch office renewal filings and fees will be filed thru CRD.
  
  Federal covered advisers will file renewal of their notice filing via IARD. Federal covered advisers will receive directly from the Division a list of branch offices in Wisconsin . All branch office renewal filings and fees must be sent directly to the Division.
  
  License renewal forms for non-FINRA broker-dealers and their agents as well as limited securities agents are also now available on the Division of Securities Forms page. Forms can be filled out online but must then be printed and submitted in paper form to the Division along with the appropriate fees.
  
  Renewal notices were mailed to all investment advisers and federal covered advisers with branches and all broker-dealers with limited agents as well as all non-FINRA broker-dealers on October 12, 2007. For answers to questions regarding renewals, call 608-266-2139.
  
• Interest on Free Credit Balances Available to Wisconsin Investors
• Copy of the Division's Final Rules (including an accompanying Report) establishing revised licensing requirements for Investment Advisers that have custody of customer funds or securities, as adopted October 20, 2004 for effectiveness January 1, 2005.
  • Copy of the Division's Final Rules (PDF: 831 KB / 17 pages)
• New online Broker-dealer Guide now available.
  Broker-dealers and their securities agents now have an online Guide to all aspects of licensing and regulatory oversight in Wisconsin. Divided into topics such as Applications, Recordkeeping, Examinations, Securities Agents and more, readers can now find answers to questions related to the initial licensing application process and the regulation of broker-dealers and their securities agents plus links to all application forms and licensing statutes and Administrative Code sections referred to in the Guide.

Other Information

• The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 ("NSMIA")
• A Brief History of Securities Regulation
• Small Business Information Center

Securities and Franchising Overview -- for a summary of the mission and activities of DFI's Division of Securities