Access to NRD

Click on one of the questions below to view the answer.

Who will have access to the information submitted to NRD?

In addition to the CIRO and the provincial securities regulators, all Authorized Firm Representatives (“AFRs”) of a firm will have access to the NRD filings of the firm and of all the individuals who work for the firm. The firm can restrict access to its NRD filings by restricting who it appoints as an AFR. At present, firms cannot restrict an AFR’s access to only particular NRD filings of the firm.

What is an AFR?

An AFR, or Authorized Firm Representative, is a person who is authorized by a firm to access information and make submissions to regulators using NRD regarding that firm and individuals associated with that firm.

Each firm must authorize one Chief AFR. Firms may also designate any number of Administrative AFRs and basic AFRs. For more details on the roles and responsibilities of these individuals, please see Chapter 4 of the Filer Manual.

As an individual registrant, what do I need to know about NRD?

The system allows (but does not require) individuals to complete some or all of their initial registration applications themselves. Whether you do this is a matter for you and your firm to decide.

Before you can work on your own application, one of your firm’s AFRs must send you a user ID and password so that you can access NRD. You can then complete your initial application online and send it to your AFR. Your AFR will then submit it through NRD to the appropriate regulators.

Alternatively, an AFR can complete and submit your application on your behalf.

Can members of the public use NRD to find out information about their dealers?

Public access to dealer information will not be available in the first release of the new system. There are plans to make NRD available to the public in the future. Many of the commissions provide certain registration information about registrants on their websites, including name, registration category, and any terms and conditions, so the public is able to obtain some information at this time. Other regulators provide this information over the telephone.

Members of the public will continue to have access to information about their dealers through their provincial securities regulator.

What happens if the system goes down? How do I register?

The NRD Rule has a “temporary hardship” section, which details the procedure for making paper submissions if the system is temporarily not available. (Please see Part 6 of Multilateral Instrument 31-102)

What are you doing about security? Will NRD be vulnerable to hackers?

The system security for NRD is based on industry best practices.

The application architecture supports multiple firewalls and utilizes a separate LDAP-based authentication scheme. All access to the site is encrypted via acceptable Internet standards. CDS’s Internet security strategy is used to confirm the NRD security posture. It is based on both internal and external security testing and code reviews, including state-of-the-art penetration testing, and reviewing and confirming the application and supporting infrastructure from a security perspective. Any changes to the environment are managed through formal change control processes requiring Information Security sign-off. There is detailed monitoring in place to ensure that the environment is not compromised, including real-time intrusion detection monitoring.