What Is a CRD Number and How Do You Look One Up?

A CRD number is the unique identification number that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) assigns to every securities professional and firm registered in the United States through its Central Registration Depository. The number is permanent. It stays with the person or firm through job changes, name changes, and retirement, and anyone can use it to pull up a broker’s or adviser’s licensing, employment, and disciplinary history for free.¹

Where the Number Comes From

The Central Registration Depository is the main electronic database for U.S. securities licensing and registration.¹ FINRA administers it, and state regulators through the North American Securities Administrators Association use it to process registrations in their jurisdictions.² Federal law backs the arrangement: under 15 U.S.C. § 78o–3, a registered securities association must maintain a system for collecting registration information, disciplinary actions, regulatory proceedings, and arbitration outcomes.³

Who Gets a CRD Number

The system assigns numbers to both individuals and firms, and each number is generated the first time a person or entity registers.

Registered representatives, meaning brokers who sell securities on behalf of a broker-dealer, receive a CRD number when their sponsoring firm files a Form U4 for them.¹
Investment adviser representatives who register through the CRD or the related Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) also receive a number.²
Broker-dealer firms have their own CRD numbers, separate from the numbers of their individual representatives.
Investment advisory firms receive a number, though they typically file through IARD, which is linked to the CRD.⁴
Individual branch offices of broker-dealer firms are tracked in the CRD as well.¹

The Form U4, formally the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration, is what triggers the number for an individual. A sponsoring firm files it electronically, and the CRD generates a number if the person doesn’t already have one.⁵ Someone who leaves the industry and comes back years later keeps the same number.

What Records the Number Links To

Every CRD number connects to a detailed profile covering credentials, employment, and disclosure events for the broker-dealer firm, its branches, and its associated individuals.¹

Qualifications and Employment

The record logs which qualification exams a person has passed, such as the Series 7 or Series 66, along with the dates.⁶ It also keeps a timeline of every firm the professional has worked for, the dates of each association, and the capacity in which they served.

Disclosure Events

Disclosures reported on Forms U4 and U5 are the part of the record that most matters for investors sizing up a professional. They include:

Criminal matters, meaning felony charges or convictions and certain misdemeanor charges involving conduct like theft, fraud, or bribery.
Regulatory actions such as fines, suspensions, or bars from FINRA, the SEC, state regulators, or other bodies.
Customer disputes, including formal written complaints, arbitration claims, and civil litigation. Firms must report settlements exceeding $25,000.⁷
Financial events like bankruptcies, unsatisfied judgments, and liens.
The circumstances of a departure from a firm, especially if it involved an internal review or was involuntary.

Registration statuses are updated to reflect whether the professional is active, inactive, or revoked. This history follows the individual permanently, so moving to a new firm or a different state does not reset it.

How to Look Up a CRD Number

Two free public tools let you search by name, firm, or CRD number.

BrokerCheck

FINRA’s BrokerCheck is the main portal for brokers and brokerage firms. Enter a name or CRD number in the search field to pull up the record.⁸ The report shows employment history, licensing, regulatory actions, and customer complaints, and it’s downloadable.⁹ It’s built for general public use, not just industry insiders.

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure

For investment advisers and their representatives, the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) site does the same job. Search by individual name, firm name, or CRD number, and you’ll see Form ADV filings, employment history, current registrations, and disciplinary disclosures.¹⁰ IAPD also checks BrokerCheck automatically, so one search will tell you whether someone is registered as both a broker and an adviser.

What the Public Tools Don’t Show

Not everything in a CRD profile is public. Under FINRA Rule 8312, BrokerCheck does not release actual exam scores or information about failed exams. It confirms only which exams a person passed and when.⁶ Regulators can see the full CRD record, which contains details the public reports leave out.

Why to Check Before You Hire

Before you work with any broker or investment adviser, a CRD lookup is one of the simplest protective steps you can take. It confirms that the person is actually registered to sell securities or give investment advice, which is a legal requirement in most situations. Someone who claims to be licensed but does not appear in BrokerCheck is a serious warning sign.

A search also surfaces patterns a professional is unlikely to volunteer: multiple customer complaints, past sanctions, or a habit of moving between firms after disciplinary problems. Because the CRD consolidates data reported by every state and federal regulator the professional has dealt with, jurisdiction-hopping does not erase a problematic history.

Fixing Errors in a CRD Record

Because these records are permanent and public, mistakes matter. FINRA offers two separate paths: a dispute process for factual errors and a much narrower expungement process for customer complaint information.

Disputing a Factual Error

Under FINRA Rule 8312(e), any current or former registered person can submit a dispute if their BrokerCheck report contains inaccurate factual information. The challenge has to identify a specific factual error. General disagreements with how a complaint was characterized, or attempts to relitigate a settled matter, are not eligible.¹¹

You submit a signed BrokerCheck Dispute Form with supporting documentation to FINRA by email. While the dispute is under review, a notation appears on the BrokerCheck report saying the matter is being reviewed. If the documentation supports the correction, FINRA updates the record. If the evidence is inconclusive, FINRA may contact the original reporting entity and will generally defer to that entity on accuracy.

Expunging a Customer Dispute

Removing a customer complaint or arbitration record is much harder. Under FINRA Rule 2080, expungement requires either a court order or a confirmed arbitration award directing removal, and FINRA must generally be named as an additional party in the court proceeding to confirm the award.¹²

An arbitration panel can recommend expungement only if it finds that one of three narrow grounds applies:

The claim or allegation is factually impossible or clearly erroneous.
The registered person was not involved in the alleged misconduct.
The claim or allegation is false.

The panel has to explain in writing which ground it relied on and identify the evidence behind its decision. If a three-person panel hears the case, the expungement decision must be unanimous. If FINRA denies a waiver request, the person seeking expungement must name FINRA as a party and serve notice in any court action to confirm the award.¹²

1
FINRA. Central Registration Depository (CRD)
2
Investor.gov. Central Registration Depository (CRD)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 78o-3 – Registered Securities Associations
4
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Electronic Filing for Investment Advisers on IARD
5
FINRA. Form U4 Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration
6
FINRA. FINRA Rule 8312 – FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure
7
FINRA. Rule 4530 Frequently Asked Questions
8
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. BrokerCheck – Find a Broker, Investment or Financial Advisor
9
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Using BrokerCheck
10
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. IAPD – Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
11
FINRA. Guidelines for the BrokerCheck Dispute Process
12
FINRA. Frequently Asked Questions About FINRA Rule 2080 (Expungement)