M&A broker exemption: Intermediary Licensing Rules
The Intermediary Licensing Rules carries 5 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, from 20 to 60 day, read 7 November 2026.
4 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 11 publish none, read 7 November 2026.
By obligation and jurisdiction
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| obligation SEC broker-dealer registration decision (US) | 45 day (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation SIPC customer protection limit (US) | 500,000 USD (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation successor broker-dealer Form BD filing (US) | 30 day (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation Form ATS filing before operation (US) | 20 day (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation statutory disqualification look-back (US) | 10 year (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation bank broker exemption customer account condition (US) | 30 day (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation bank broker exemption application timing (US) | 60 day (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation designated broker ownership threshold (US-TX) | 10 % (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| obligation real estate licence minimum age (US-CA) | 18 year (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| jurisdiction Texas (real-estate business entity broker licence: window to meet requirements after filing) | 1 year (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
| jurisdiction California (real-estate broker licence: minimum licensed salesperson experience) | 2 year (one figure) | one figure, no range | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per published figure: the figure as the source's own page publishes it, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration | 500,000 USD | SIPC customer protection limit (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers | 60 day | bank broker exemption application timing (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration | 45 day | SEC broker-dealer registration decision (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration | 30 day | successor broker-dealer Form BD filing (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers | 30 day | bank broker exemption customer account condition (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration | 20 day | Form ATS filing before operation (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| California Department of Real Estate, requirements for a broker licence | 18 year | real estate licence minimum age (US-CA) | 2026-11-07 |
| 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers | 10 year | statutory disqualification look-back (US) | 2026-11-07 |
| Texas Real Estate Commission, business entity broker licence | 10 % | designated broker ownership threshold (US-TX) | 2026-11-07 |
| California Department of Real Estate, requirements for a broker licence | 2 year | California (real-estate broker licence: minimum licensed salesperson experience) | 2026-11-07 |
| Texas Real Estate Commission, business entity broker licence | 1 year | Texas (real-estate business entity broker licence: window to meet requirements after filing) | 2026-11-07 |
The sentence each figure was read from (11)
- SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration, read 2026-11-07:
Each SIPC member must pay an annual fee to SIPC. SIPC insures that its members' customers receive back their cash and securities in the event of a member's liquidation, up to $500,000 per customer for cash and securities.
- 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers, read 2026-11-07:
(aa)60 days after the date on which the application is filed; or
- SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration, read 2026-11-07:
Within 45 days of filing a completed application, the SEC will either grant registration or begin proceedings to determine whether it should deny registration.
- SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration, read 2026-11-07:
A successor broker-dealer must file a new Form BD (or, in special instances, amend the predecessor broker-dealer's Form BD) within 30 days after such succession.
- 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers, read 2026-11-07:
(I)on behalf of a customer that, for 30 days prior to the day of the transaction, maintained an account with the broker or dealer; and
- SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration, read 2026-11-07:
In order to acquire the status of an ATS, a firm must first be registered as a broker-dealer, and it must file an initial operation report with respect to the trading system on Form ATS at least 20 days before commencing operation.
- California Department of Real Estate, requirements for a broker licence, read 2026-11-07:
Age: You must be 18 years of age or older to be issued a license.
- 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers, read 2026-11-07:
(i)has committed or omitted any act, or is subject to an order or finding, enumerated in subparagraph (A), (D), (E), (H), or (G) of paragraph (4) of this subsection; (ii)has been convicted of any offense specified in subparagraph (B) of such paragraph (4) within 10 years of the commencement of the proceedings under this paragraph; or
- Texas Real Estate Commission, business entity broker licence, read 2026-11-07:
Does the designated broker own 10% or more of a licensed business entity if the designated broker owns 10% or more of another business entity that owns 100% of the licensed business entity?
- California Department of Real Estate, requirements for a broker licence, read 2026-11-07:
Experience: Either, a minimum of two years full-time licensed salesperson experience within the last five years, or two years of unlicensed equivalent experience, or a four-year degree with a major/minor in real estate is required.
- Texas Real Estate Commission, business entity broker licence, read 2026-11-07:
You have one year from the date your application is filed to meet all license requirements.
Read in full, publishes no figure
11 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- SEC, broker-dealer registration (fast answers), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- SEC, broker-dealers (capital raising building blocks), read 2026-11-07: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- FINRA, broker-dealer registration, read 2026-11-07: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Texas Real Estate Commission, individual real estate broker licence, read 2026-10-02: every candidate on the page was refused
- FCA Handbook, PERG 8.32 arranging deals in investments, read 2026-10-31: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- FCA Handbook, PERG 2.7 activities: a broad outline, read 2026-09-25: every candidate on the page was refused
- FCA Handbook, PERG 2.8 exclusions applicable to particular regulated activities, read 2026-11-07: every candidate on the page was refused
- Regulated Activities Order 2001, article 25 (arranging deals in investments), read 2026-11-07: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Regulated Activities Order 2001, contents, read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- New York Department of State, real estate broker, read 2026-10-02: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Florida DBPR, Real Estate Commission, read 2026-09-18: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
4 of the 15 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 11 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in day (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 5 figures, never sentences; 34 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per jurisdiction per intermediary type: whether a securities registration is required, which exemption applies and on what thresholds (the federal M&A broker exemption's EBITDA and revenue ceilings and its disqualifying activities), whether a state real-estate licence is required when the sale includes property or a going concern, and the GB position where the acquisition-of-control exclusion takes most whole-company sales outside the perimeter - each quoted from the authority with its effective date, and the derived map of which US states catch a business broker at all, which no single authority publishes
34 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (15)
- SEC, Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- SEC, broker-dealer registration (fast answers)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- SEC, broker-dealers (capital raising building blocks)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FINRA, broker-dealer registration(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- 15 U.S.C. 78o, registration and regulation of brokers and dealers(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Texas Real Estate Commission, individual real estate broker licence(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Texas Real Estate Commission, business entity broker licence(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- California Department of Real Estate, requirements for a broker licence(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FCA Handbook, PERG 8.32 arranging deals in investments(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FCA Handbook, PERG 2.7 activities: a broad outline(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FCA Handbook, PERG 2.8 exclusions applicable to particular regulated activities(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Regulated Activities Order 2001, article 25 (arranging deals in investments)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Regulated Activities Order 2001, contents(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- New York Department of State, real estate broker(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Florida DBPR, Real Estate Commission(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
The Intermediary Licensing Rules carries 5 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, from 20 to 60 day, read 7 November 2026.
4 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 11 publish none, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation SEC broker-dealer registration decision (US): median 45 day across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation SIPC customer protection limit (US): median 500,000 USD across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation successor broker-dealer Form BD filing (US): median 30 day across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation Form ATS filing before operation (US): median 20 day across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation statutory disqualification look-back (US): median 10 year across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation bank broker exemption customer account condition (US): median 30 day across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation bank broker exemption application timing (US): median 60 day across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation designated broker ownership threshold (US-TX): median 10 percent across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, obligation real estate licence minimum age (US-CA): median 18 year across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, jurisdiction Texas (real-estate business entity broker licence: window to meet requirements after filing): median 1 year across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Intermediary Licensing Rules, jurisdiction California (real-estate broker licence: minimum licensed salesperson experience): median 2 year across 1 source, read 7 November 2026.
Cite as: "brokervsadvisor.com Intermediary Licensing Rules", updated 2026-11-07, https://brokervsadvisor.com/datasets/intermediary-licensing-rules/.
Download the CSV (11 rows, computed 2026-11-07)
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Questions this data answers
What licence or registration must a business broker or an M&A advisor hold in my jurisdiction?
The Intermediary Licensing Rules carries 5 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, from 20 to 60 day, read 7 November 2026.
Where do the figures in the Intermediary Licensing Rules come from?
Every figure is quoted from its source's own page and dated (last read 7 Nov 2026). 15 named sources were read and 4 publish a figure; the 11 that publish none are recorded as not published, never estimated.