Washington State Department of Financial Institutions

Renewal Reminder for 2009

This notice provides information concerning the renewal of your registration as an investment adviser. Renewals are processed through the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) by FINRA.

Preliminary Renewal Statement

FINRA prepares a Preliminary Renewal Statement for each registered investment adviser that lists each registered representative of the investment adviser as well as the renewal fees for the firm and each representative in each state in which the investment adviser is registered. These statements will be made available online through the IARD on November 10, 2008. If you do not remember your IARD password, contact the IARD Help Desk now to have it reset.

If there are errors on your Preliminary Renewal Statement, call the IARD Help Desk to straighten them out. Corrections will be reflected on the Final Renewal Statement (see below).

Termination Information

If you plan on terminating any firm registrations at the end of the year you may file a post-dated Form ADV-W beginning November 3, 2008. If you plan on terminating any investment adviser representatives at the end of the year you may file a post-dated Form U5 beginning October 27, 2008. Both the ADV-W and the U5 must be post-dated to December 31, 2008 for an end of the year termination date. You should file these forms by November 7, 2008 so your firm will not be charged the renewal fees that would otherwise appear on the Preliminary Renewal Statement.

Any additions/deletions of states or representatives that occur after November 7, 2008 and prior to CRD shutdown on December 26, 2008 will be reflected on the Final Renewal Statement.

Renewal Fees

The IARD annual system processing fee waivers instituted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA and the states collectively through the North American Securities Administrators Association are still in place and will now include a waiver of the IA representative IARD system processing fee for the 2009 renewals. Therefore, if you are registered only in the State of Washington, you are only required to pay the following fees:

If you are registered in other states additional renewal fees will apply, so you will need to review your Preliminary Renewal Statement in detail.

Payment Instructions

You are strongly encouraged to ensure you have paid all renewal fees through your Renewal Account by December 1, 2008. Although FINRA will sweep amounts held in your Daily Account on December 12, 2008 to pay renewal fees that have not already been paid, we will begin contacting firms that have not yet renewed on December 1, 2008. We therefore encourage you to complete your renewal by December 1, 2008 to avoid any unnecessary contact.

You may pay your renewal fees by check, wire transfer, or e-pay. If you use e-pay after December 6, 2008, please be aware that it takes FINRA several days to post the funds to your account and you should therefore check to ensure that the funds are properly credited to your Renewal Account.

Payment Deadlines

THE DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF PRELIMINARY RENEWAL STATEMENT PAYMENTS IS DECEMBER 12, 2008. While FINRA will continue to post payments to Renewal Accounts until December 26, 2008, they do not guarantee that the transaction will be processed in time if paid after December 12, 2008. Advisers whose renewal payments are not posted by December 26, 2008 will have their registrations automatically cancelled by the IARD. The best practice is to pay your renewal fees in November so you will have time to fix any errors that may occur.

Remember to pay the full amount indicated on the Preliminary Renewal Statement.

Final Renewal Statement

Final Renewal Statements will be made available on January 2, 2009. The Final Renewal Statement will reflect any corrections from the Preliminary Renewal Statement, as well as any additions/deletions of states or representatives that occur after November 7th and prior to IARD shutdown on December 26th.

Review the Final Renewal Statement to ensure that no errors have occurred. The deadline for receipt of Final Renewal Statement payments and reporting any renewal discrepancies is February 4, 2009.

Reminder Regarding Year End Obligations

You are required to submit your fiscal year end balance sheet and certification within 90 days of the end of your fiscal year. You are also required to update your Form ADV Parts I and II on an annual basis. If you are one of the many investment advisers registered in Washington that has a fiscal year that ends on December 31, you must file these items by March 31, 2009. Failure to file these items by the deadline may result in termination of your registration.

Where To Get Help

You may access additional information regarding the IARD renewal program at http://www.iard.com/renewals.asp. Any questions regarding the renewal process can be directed to the IARD Help Desk at 240-386-4848. You may also contact Nelda Shannon of our office by e-mail at nshannon@dfi.wa.gov or by telephone at (360) 902-8746 or Bruce Johnson by e-mail at bjohnson@dfi.wa.gov or by telephone at (360) 902-8781.

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