Definition: A CRD number is the identification number a firm or an individual carries in the Central Registration Depository (CRD), the registration system FINRA operates. FINRA describes the CRD program as covering the registration records of broker-dealer firms, branch offices and their associated individuals, including their qualification, employment and disclosure histories.

What does CRD do?

FINRA runs the CRD program to support the licensing and registration filing requirements of the U.S. securities industry and its regulators. It processes form filings such as Form U4 and Form U5, fingerprint submissions, registration fees, qualification exams and continuing education.

Investment adviser firms file through the related IARD system. The SEC's Form ADV instructions say FINRA assigns a new adviser firm a CRD number when it sets up its filing account.

How do you look one up?

Search by name or CRD number on FINRA's BrokerCheck or the SEC's IAPD. An individual keeps the same CRD number when they change firms, so the number is the reliable way to find the right record when two people share a name. BrokerCheck shows information drawn from that record, not the whole file. Under FINRA Rule 8312 it does not release Social Security numbers, residential history, physical descriptions or exam scores.

Where it shows up in our data

Continuum keys every advisor and every firm by CRD number. That is how a departure from one firm is matched to the arrival at the next, and how two advisors with the same name stay apart. Firm CRD numbers also let us group a firm's related legal entities into one firm family. AdvisorWire and the Advisor Flow Index show the result by firm.

Sources

  1. Rule textCentral Registration Depository (CRD) FINRA
  2. Rule textFINRA Rule 8312 (FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure) FINRA
  3. Rule textForm ADV: General Instructions and Glossary SEC
  4. Public recordBrokerCheck FINRA
  5. Public recordInvestment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) SEC
  6. Continuum dataMarket Intelligence methodology Continuum

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