Cheating for CE credits is on the rise

investmentnews.com:

There has been an unusually high number of disciplinary actions filed by Finra this year over a curious kind of advisor misconduct: Cheating to get continuing education credits.

It’s not the first time the self-regulatory organization has had CE cheating reported to it, but the nearly two dozen cases so far in 2024 suggest that more brokers are taking shortcuts – or at least that they’re more frequently getting caught.

Some of the actions appear to be isolated incidents, though some firms had multiple brokers who agreed to fines and suspensions. The most notable was Northwestern Mutual, where numerous people had others complete 15 hours of CE for renewing their licenses in New York in 2022. Finra fined brokers $5,000 and suspended them for a month, though the orders did not require the brokers to admit or deny the findings.

People who have been in the industry for years said that they were aware of CE cheating in the past at large brokerages, where one employee, such as an administrative assistance, might sit through online programs on behalf of numerous others.

In Northwestern’s case, the firm reported misrepresentations by some employees on their CE to Finra.

“Northwestern Mutual takes matters of governance and compliance seriously, including our responsibility to regulatory bodies and our commitment to meeting continuing education requirements. Upon become aware of certain information, we took immediate steps to self-report to the appropriate regulatory bodies and began a thorough investigation regarding continuing education practices,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “It is our expectation that all financial representatives and their teams individually meet the continuing education requirements necessary