Broker, Dealer, and the Statutory Registration Trigger

What this video covers

• Whether a firm is acting as a broker (agent, for the account of others, commission) or a dealer (principal, for its own account, markup or markdown), and why compensation method always follows capacity
• The trader exception and why it applies only to dealing for the trader's own personal account, not for any other person including family members
• The bank exception and how it excludes specified bank activities such as trust services and custody from the broker definition
• The federal registration trigger under the Securities Exchange Act: use of the mails or any instrumentality of interstate commerce to effect transactions, with no small-firm or local-activity exception
• The exclusively intrastate exemption and its two requirements: 100% business within one state and no use of a national securities exchange facility
• The three registration tiers (Securities and Exchange Commission, self-regulatory organization, and state) and why a firm must satisfy all three
• Form BD as the single uniform application filed once to satisfy all three tiers of registration, not three separate forms