Many investment adviser representatives (“IARs”) employed by or associated with state-registered and SEC-registered/“federal covered” investment advisers have been required to conduct business from their home or other temporary office location in the face of COVID-19. If those displaced IARs are not currently licensed by the states where they are temporarily providing advisory services, firms should quickly analyze whether they must license these individuals under the respective and applicable state law.
For example, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities recently announced that as of August 31, 2020, it would end its “grace period” for those IARs “who were displaced for teleworking to their PA home addresses during COVID-19” if they were previously unlicensed. We are also aware of other state regulatory bodies that have issued similar guidance and restrictions for IARs displaced from their principal office because of COVID-19.
Stark & Stark is monitoring these developments and remains available to discuss any state-specific issues that concern your firm’s IARs. Please feel free to contact us in this or any other respect.