Nikhil Rao

Licensing and Registration Management

• Administering and maintaining FINRA and state securities registrations for firm representatives, ensuring full compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Preparing, reviewing, and submitting Form U4, U5 Partial, Full U5 , Amendments; through FINRA gateway.
• Managing the end-to-end onboarding process for registered representatives, coordinating background checks, disclosures, and licensing applications.
• Auditing and reconciling registration records to verify accuracy across FINRA Gateway, state databases, and internal systems.

Regulatory and Vendor Coordination

• Serving as the primary liaison between FINRA, state regulators, and internal compliance teams regarding licensing and registration matters.
• Coordinating with external vendors such as Kaplan for FINRA Continuing Education (CE) and Investment Adviser Representative (IAR) CE scheduling and completion tracking.
• Serving as a liaison between advisors, vendors, and compliance teams to troubleshoot CE or registration-related discrepancies.
• Acting as a key point of contact between internal stakeholders (Compliance, HR, Legal, and Operations) and external regulatory bodies including FINRA and state authorities.

Compliance Oversight and Process Improvement

• Staying informed of FINRA, SEC, and state regulatory changes, adjusting internal processes to maintain compliance and operational efficiency.
• Assisting in drafting and implementing policies and procedures related to licensing, registration, and compliance operations.
• Maintaining confidentiality and accuracy in handling sensitive personal and regulatory data for all registered individuals.

Training and Guidance

• Providing detailed guidance and training to employees and managers on licensing procedures and regulatory obligations.

• Working closely with field members, facilitating the onboarding process for newly hired advisor and ensuring the timely completion of FINRA U4 filings, conducting fingerprint transmissions, overseeing background checks, and providing oversight to ensure that actions are completed within the specified time ranges.
• Performing business and residential address change requests to keep the application for registration (Form U4) updated, Opening exam windows such as (S7TO, S63, S66 etc...)Coordinating with the Disclosures team and other onshore teams to ensure the timely completion of registrations.
• Accountable for meticulously reviewing representatives' Outside Business Activities (OBA) disclosed in the AIM system for accuracy on their Form U-4. Additionally, I oversee the Business Information Group (BIG), which submits background reports for representatives and handles fingerprint submissions to FINRA for representatives.
• Contributing to process improvement and time-saving ideas, providing training to newly hired associates along with managing the workload. Auditing teams work, preparing root cause analysis reports and MOM's.
• Actively contributed to additional work types like State Registrations, U4 Amendments and Exam Windows. Also responsible for updating SOPs, Assigning cases, Maintaining the attendance tracker, Leave tracker, and Generating reports for aged requests.
• Managed multiple priorities effectively, maintaining accurate records throughout high-volume periods.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify compliance risks, resulting in the implementation of proactive measures for mitigation
• Provided training and mentorship to junior analysts, fostering a culture of compliance awareness and enhancing team performance.