Form BD Amendments

The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting amendments to Form BD, the uniform broker-dealer registration form under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The primary purpose of the amendments is to implement recommended changes to the Central Registration Depository system, a computer system operated by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. that maintains registration information regarding broker-dealers and their registered personnel. Specifically, the amendments are intended to facilitate retrieval of broker-dealer registration and disciplinary information through the redesigned Central Registration Depository by eliciting more precise disclosure and by reorganizing disciplinary items into related categories. The changes to the disclosure section of Form BD are consistent with changes made by the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. to the analogous section in Form U-4, the uniform form for registration of associated persons of a broker- dealer. The Commission also is adopting clarifying amendments to Form BD, including instructions for filing Form BD electronically with the Central Registration Depository.