Title 13 Part 11

The revisions to this Part shall go into effect on February 1, 2021.

Chapter 961 of the Laws of 1960, as amended, when referred to in all rules and regulations promulgated by the Attorney General relating thereto, shall be referred to as the "New York Investment Advisory Act."

The Investor Protection Bureau of the Department of Law shall be responsible for the administration of the New York Investment Advisory Act. Whenever in this Part there is reference to a submission of filing with the Department of Law, this shall mean the Investor Protection Bureau, 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005 or the designee.

The Attorney General may by regulation, rule or order designate the web-based Investment Advisor Registration Depository (IARD) or Central Registration Depository (CRD) operated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to receive and store filings and collect related fees from investment advisers and investment adviser representatives, on behalf of the Attorney General. (Information regarding CRD is available at https://www.finra.org. Information regarding IARD is available at www.sec.gov and www.iard.com).

When a signature or signatures are required by the particular instructions of any filing to be made through the CRD/IARD, a duly authorized officer of the applicant or the applicant him or herself, as required, shall affix his or her electronic signature to the filing by typing his or her name in the appropriate fields and submitting the filing to CRD/IARD. Submission of a filing in this manner shall constitute irrefutable evidence of legal signature by any individuals whose names are typed on the filing.

Solely for purposes of a filing made through CRD/IARD, a document is considered filed with the Attorney General when all fees are received and the filing is approved by the State.

Any documents or fees required to be filed with the Department of Law that are not permitted to be filed with or cannot be accepted by CRD/IARD shall be filed directly with the Department of Law.

Filings made through the CRD/IARD system shall be reviewed for completeness by the CRD/IARD system. All applications for registration meeting all existing requirements and qualifications shall be reviewed on a case-by-case basis for approval. Advisors submitting the filings shall be notified of deficiencies and required to correct same. Failure to correct any deficiencies pursuant to sections 11.4(a)-(h), 11. 6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.9 or 11.14 of this Part, or other submissions within 180 days from receipt by the Department of Law or its designee will result in the abandonment of the registration and will require a completely new filing. No refunds will be made for filings that are either withdrawn on a voluntary basis or abandoned as a result of the failure to correct deficiencies.

The application for initial registration as an investment adviser pursuant to these rules shall be made by completing Form ADV (Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration) (17 CFR 279.1) in accordance with the form instructions and by filing the form with CRD/IARD. The application for initial registration as an investment adviser representative pursuant to these rules shall be made by completing Form U4 in accordance with the form instructions and by filing the form with CRD/IARD. (Both Form ADV: General Instructions and the General Instructions for Part 2 of Form ADV are published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549. Form U4 Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer General Instructions is published by FINRA, 1735 K St NW, Washington, DC 20006. These instructions are viewable at https://ag.ny.gov/forms).

Unless an application for a new investment adviser representative is filed in accordance with subdivision (i) of this section, an investment adviser or investment adviser representative application must be filed with CRD/IARD and approved by the State prior to engaging in investment advisory activities in the State of New York.

All investment advisers and solicitors with more than five clients in the State of New York must make application to register as an investment adviser, unless such solicitor is a federally covered investment adviser, or is otherwise exempt from registration with the State under section 11.13 of this Part. All principals, investment adviser representatives and supervisors must apply for registration in connection with their representation of any investment adviser or solicitor. All investment adviser representatives for a federally covered investment adviser must apply for registration in connection with their representation.

The application for annual renewal as an investment adviser, solicitor and investment adviser representative shall be filed with CRD/IARD. The application for annual renewal registration shall include the required fee and any other information the Department of Law may reasonably require.

The registration is for a calendar year or for that remaining part of the calendar year in which it is submitted.

An application for initial or renewal registration is not considered filed for purposes of these rules until the required fee and all required submissions have been received and accepted by the Department of Law or the designee.

Except as provided below, any person who, prior to February 1, 2021, was serving continuously and permissibly in any capacity covered under this Part, and who, through continued service, is subject to the registration requirements under this Part on or after February 1, 2021, may continue such service without an approved registration until December 2, 2021 without violating the registration provisions of GBL section 359-eee or this Part, so long as a Form U4 requesting investment adviser representative registration in New York for that person is submitted on or before August 31, 2021. Should an applicant be notified of a non-examination related deficiency in the application, the applicant will have 14 days to correct such deficiency and communicate the correction to the Department of Law. Any applicant whose application is denied, or who fails to correct the deficiency and communicate the correction within 14 days, and who continues to engage in activity requiring registration after notification of such denial or expiration of those 14 days, shall be in violation of this Part and GBL section 359-eee. Applicants with examination-related deficiencies must correct such deficiencies in accordance with the requirements of section 11.6 or 11.7 of this Part. Nothing in this section shall excuse, relieve or limit liability of any person who violated examination or registration requirements in existence prior to February 1, 2021, nor shall it provide any extension, grace period or waiver to such person.

The notice filing for a federally covered investment adviser shall be filed with CRD/IARD on an electronically signed Form ADV (Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration [17 CFR 279.1]). All federally covered investment advisers with more than five clients in the State of New York must notice file. A notice filing of a federally covered investment adviser shall be deemed filed when the fee required and the Form ADV are filed with and accepted by CRD/IARD on behalf of the State.

The annual renewal of the notice filing for a federally covered investment adviser shall be filed with CRD/IARD. The renewal of the notice filing for a federally covered investment adviser shall be deemed filed when the fee required is filed and accepted on behalf of the State.

A federally covered investment adviser must file with CRD/IARD, in accordance with the instructions in the Form ADV, any amendments to the federally covered investment adviser's Form ADV. A federally covered investment adviser shall submit their amendments pursuant to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requirements.

Every principal of an investment adviser or solicitor, and every investment adviser representative, including persons representing solicitors, and every supervisor who is required to register in this jurisdiction and who does not qualify for a waiver pursuant to section 11.7 of this Part, must take and receive a passing grade within two years prior to the date of filing registration information pursuant to section 11.4(c) of this Part on:

In accordance with section 11.4(i) of this Part, every natural person who, prior to February 1, 2021, was serving continuously and permissibly in any capacity covered under this Part, and who, through continued service, is subject to the registration and examination requirements of this Part on or after February 1, 2021, and who does not qualify for a waiver pursuant to section 11.7 of this Part, must take and receive a passing grade by December 2, 2021 on the examinations required under subdivision (a) of this section.

A natural person who otherwise is required to meet the examination requirements of section 11.6 of this Part shall be exempt from such requirements upon application to, and approval by, the Department of Law, provided that such person has been continuously registered to provide investment advice in any jurisdiction for a period of at least two years prior to the date of filing registration information pursuant to section 11.4(c) of this Part; has not had any lapse in registration exceeding two years; and is not, and has not been, subject to any regulatory or civil action, proceeding or arbitration, either pending or in the preceding 10 years from the date of such application, that would require disclosure on Form U4.

Every natural person otherwise required to meet the examination requirements of section 11.6(a) of this Part and who, in the regular course of business, acted as an investment adviser representative from a place of business in the State continuously and permissibly for at least two years prior to February 1, 2021 and who is not eligible for any other waiver under this section, may be exempted from the provisions of section 11.6 of this Part upon application to, and approval by, the Department of Law. No person shall qualify for a waiver under this subdivision if:

The examination requirement of section 11.6 of this Part shall not apply to any natural person who currently holds one of the following professional designations in good standing:

Applicant waiver eligibility under subdivisions (a) and (c) of this section shall be automatically directed to the Department of Law for evaluation and approval through the Form U4 submission in CRD/IARD. All requests for specials waivers under subdivision (b) of this section must be submitted directly to the Department of Law on Form NY-IASW at the time of submission of the Form U4, unless otherwise directed by the Department of Law. Nothing in this section shall automatically revoke any examination waiver granted by the Department of Law prior to February 1, 2021 pursuant to Form NY-IAQ.

For purposes of this exemption, the provisions of rule 203(B)(3)-l thereunder shall apply.

Each investment adviser registered in the State of New York must:

All forms are available on the Department of Law’s website at https://ag.ny.gov/forms.

Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration, parts 1 and 2.

Application for Temporary or Continuing Hardship Exemption.

Notice of Withdrawal From Registration as Investment Adviser.

New York Investment Adviser Qualification. (Retired).

Uniform Application f or Securities Industry Registration or Transfer.

Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration.

New York Special Waiver Qualification Under section 11.7(b) of this Part.

The Attorney General may by order, deny, suspend, condition, or revoke any registration statement or application of any investment adviser, investment adviser representative, solicitor or principal made pursuant to GBL section 359-eee, in the public interest for good cause.