The NYSE’s regulatory unit, the New York Stock Exchange Regulation, introduced on Tuesday a new Web-based educational tool for brokers, that is aimed at reducing the number of enforcement actions.
The software, netCEP, enables brokers to brush up on the latest regulations, investment products and trading strategies as well as prepare representatives for the Series 7 and other registration exams through an interactive library of instruction materials. Both novice and experienced reps can access real-time information on a broad spectrum of practice areas including suitability and sales practices, breakpoints, derivatives, account maintenance, ethics and trade and settlement practices.
“It’s a product that will give back to the industry,” says Don van Weezel, vice president of regulatory affairs at NYSE Regulation. “It should be extremely helpful for brokers in a variety of areas.”
With several hundred thousand dollars in funding from the Securities Industry/Regulatory Council on Continuing Education, the NYSE is able to offer the product to individual reps at $25 annually and to firms as a site license for a fee ranging between $7.50 and $25. The NYSE will use the fees strictly for the system’s upkeep and is not looking to make money on them, van Weezel says.
When used on a firmwide basis, a branch manager or other designated individual can create real-life scenarios for reps and customize training sessions to meet the firm’s specified needs. The software can monitor and score assignments as well as generate reports to meet record-keeping requirements. As part of its marketing effort, the NYSE has distributed demo CDs to all NYSE members and member firms.
The NYSE is betting that better-informed and more highly trained brokers will translate into a decrease in the number of people in the brokerage industry that get hit with enforcement action from the high levels they’ve reached in recent years. “The end goal for everything we do is fewer enforcement actions,” van Weezel says. “This training and education tool is very much a part of that function.”
