Stockbroker

Such an exchange must be done through a broker. There are three types of stockbroking service. Roles similar to that of a stockbroker include investment advisor, and financial advisor.

Passing Unit 10 or Unit 52 identifies individuals as having attained FSA Approved Person Status. To become a representative one has to work for a licensed firm and pass 3 exams to prove ones competency. Other types of City Trading include working in the Foreign Exchange. .

In such cases the term broker makes little sense and the individuals or firms trading in principal capacity sometimes call themselves dealers, stock traders or simply traders. This designation is obtained by an individual passing the FINRA General Securities Representative Examination (also known as the Series 7 exam ) and being employed ( associated with ) a registered Broker-dealer also called a brokerage firm; the firm is typically a FINRA member firm. More restrictive FINRA licenses or series exams exist for brokers or reps who do not need the full array of capabilities with the Series 7.

All tests can be taken with the HKSI. However, passing all tests doesn t result in automatically obtaining the license.

A stock broker or stockbroker is a regulated professional broker who buys and sells shares and other securities through market makers or Agency Only Firms on behalf of investors. While the term stockbroker is still in use, it is more commonly referred to as simply broker , registered rep or simply rep -- shortened versions of the official FINRA (pronounced FIN-ra ) designation Registered Representative . It still needs to be approved by the financial regulatory body. A transaction on a stock exchange must be made between two members of the exchange — an ordinary person may not walk into the New York Stock Exchange (for example), and ask to trade stock.

And variable products such as a variable annuity contract or variable universal life insurance policy typically require the broker to also have one or another state insurance department licenses. In the UK, brokers are required to pass the XII (Securities and Investment Institute) Certificate in Securities, this qualification is achieved by passing two exams: Either Unit 1: FBI Financial regulations or Unit 10 Principles of Financial Regulation for MiFID compliant retail trading, and either Unit 2: Securities, Unit 3: Derivatives or Unit 4: for both Securities and Derivatives. A stock broker is just the main part of being a City Trader.

Passing a fourth exam results in obtaining a specialist license. A stockbroker may or may not be also an investment advisor, and vice versa. Stockbrokers also sometimes or exclusively trade on their own behalf, as a principal, speculating that a share or other financial instrument will increase or decline in price.

See the FINRA List of Securities Examinations.