69W-600.0034. Notice-Filing of Branch Office (Investment Adviser)

(1) New Notice-Filings.

(a) Every Florida branch office of an investment adviser registered in Florida shall be notice-filed with the Office of Financial Regulation (Office) prior to engaging in business therefrom. An investment adviser must be registered with the Office before its branch offices may notice-file. Branches of an investment adviser shall file the Uniform Branch Office Registration Form (Form BR) electronically through the Central Registration Depository (CRD) of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as prescribed by the Financial Services Commission (Commission). The notice-filing shall include all information required by such form, any other information the Office may require, and payment of the statutory fees required by Section 517.1202(2), F.S. The notice-filing shall be deemed received by the Office on the transaction date (Trans DT) reflected on the CRD “disbursement detail” report.

(b) A notice-filing shall include the following:

1. Form BR (04/2014). A sample form is hereby incorporated by reference and available at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-06080.

2. Statutory fee in the amount required by Section 517.1202(2), F.S.

3. Person(s)-in-charge must be registered as set forth in Rule 69W-600.0024, F.A.C.

(2) Amendment of Notice-Filing. If the information contained in the Form BR becomes inaccurate or incomplete for any reason after the branch office notice-files, including changing the location of the branch office or the supervisory personnel thereof, the investment adviser shall amend the information by filing a complete and originally executed Form BR with the Office within thirty (30) days of the change and denoting thereon that the information reported is an amendment to a previous filing. For any investment adviser, the Form BR shall be filed with the Office through the CRD of FINRA, as set forth in paragraph subsection (1) of this rule. Failure to file amendments, as provided herein, shall be considered a violation of Section 517.1202(6), F.S.

(3) Alternate Business Name. It is prohibited for any branch office to conduct an investment advisory business in this state under any name other than that of the investment adviser with which the branch office is notice-filed unless each of the following conditions is met:

(a) The business conducted does not violate or evade any provision of Chapter 517, F.S.;

(b) The business conducted does not fall within the definition of “dealer” or “investment adviser” as used in Chapter 517, F.S.; and,

(c) The investment adviser with which the branch office is notice-filed has received written notice of the name under which business shall be conducted.

(4) Renewal Requirement.

(a) Renewal fees for investment advisers shall be submitted through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) of FINRA by December 31 of the year the registration or notice-filing expires. Renewal fees for associated persons of investment advisers and federal covered advisers, and branch offices of investment advisers, shall be submitted through the CRD by December 31 of the year the registration or notice-filing expires.

(b) For branch offices of investment advisers, failure of the firm to submit the requisite amount of fees as provided for in paragraph (4)(a) by December 31 of the year of expiration of the notice-filing shall result in the notice-filing not being renewed. If December 31 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday pursuant to Section 110.117, F.S., the renewals received on the next business day shall be considered timely received. However, an expired notice-filing may be reinstated in accordance with the provisions of Section 517.1202(3), F.S., provided that all requisite information and fees are date stamped by the cashier’s office of the Department of Financial Services on or before January 31 of the year following the year of expiration. Failure to submit the requisite amount of fees necessary to reinstate the notice-filing by January 31 of the year following the year of expiration shall result in such notice-filing not being reinstated. If January 31 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday pursuant to Section 110.117, F.S., the reinstatement received on the next business day shall be considered timely received. In the event that the renewal or reinstatement is withdrawn or not granted, any fees filed to renew or reinstate the notice-filing shall become the revenue of the state pursuant to the provisions of Section 517.1202(8), F.S., and shall not be returnable.

(5) Termination of Branch Office. Where a branch office, cancels, or otherwise terminates notification, or is terminated for any reason, notice of such fact shall be electronically filed with the Office on the Form BR through the CRD within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of cancellation or termination.

Rulemaking Authority 517.03(1), 517.1202 FS. Law Implemented 517.1202 FS. History–New 12-29-15.