Securities operations and regulatory operations licence map

Who this helps

• - Operations analysts
• - Regulatory operations teams
• - Broker-dealer operations staff
• - Middle-office leads
• - COOs entering securities firms

Typical job titles

• - Operations analyst
• - Regulatory operations analyst
• - Trade support
• - Settlements analyst
• - Operations professional

Core question

Does the role control account onboarding, funds or securities movements, settlement, books and records, regulatory reporting, or systems tied to covered operations functions?

Activity triggers

• - Maintaining customer account records, onboarding data, or account-transfer documentation.
• - Controlling receipt, delivery, maintenance, reinvestment, or disbursement of funds or securities.
• - Handling settlement, fails, segregation, possession and control, confirmations, statements, or margin operations.
• - Preparing, approving, or feeding financial regulatory reports, books, records, or firm-control reconciliations.
• - Defining business or security requirements for systems supporting trading, custody, reporting, or operations functions.

Licence and registration map

• - US: check Operations Professional registration, SIE/Series 99, broker-dealer sponsorship, and FINRA books-and-records evidence.
• - UK: check certification, SM&CR responsibility maps, CASS/client asset operations, operational resilience, and FCA register context.
• - Hong Kong: check whether operations staff support licensed representatives, responsible officers, MICs, dealing, custody, or regulatory reporting.
• - Singapore: check CMS licence activity, representative boundary, operations owner, MAS FID status, and outsourcing/custody controls.
• - Australia: check AFSL responsible manager support, representative status, custody/client money operations, and ASIC register evidence.

Exam or competence checks

• - In the US, Series 99 is tied to Operations Professional registration and generally requires SIE plus FINRA member-firm sponsorship.
• - Operations competence evidence should connect job duties to account, custody, settlement, reporting, systems, and escalation controls.
• - Where the person also deals, advises, supervises, or controls client-facing activity, separate representative or senior-person checks may apply.

Application evidence

• - Operations role description and escalation map.
• - Account opening, settlement, reconciliation, books and records, statement, margin, and regulatory-reporting workflow notes.
• - Custody/client asset handoff memo showing who can move, instruct, approve, reconcile, or report assets.
• - Systems access, entitlement, change-control, incident, and cyber-operation evidence.
• - Supervision, training, competence, and regulatory history files for operations owners.

Register checks

• - Check BrokerCheck for US registered operations professionals where public records apply.
• - Check firm permissions and conditions on SFC, MAS FID, FCA, and ASIC registers before assuming operations scope.
• - Record whether the individual is registered, certified, named internally, or only an unregistered operations employee.

Jurisdiction notes

Common mistakes

• - Treating operations as unlicensed support without checking registration, certification, or custody-control functions.
• - Studying Series 99 before confirming employer sponsorship and actual covered operations duties.
• - Leaving books, records, reconciliation, and entitlement controls out of the application pack.

Disclaimer

Information on LicenseCompare is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, regulatory, financial, tax, investment, or professional advice. Licensing requirements depend on facts and change over time. Always consult official regulator materials and qualified professional advisers.