Account Opening

The required components

• Custodian account application with full identifying information.
• Customer Identification Program (CIP) verification under AML rules.
• Beneficiary designations — primary and contingent, with explicit forms for retirement accounts.
• Transfer-on-death (TOD) or payable-on-death (POD) for non-retirement accounts where state law allows.
• Trading authority — discretionary or non-discretionary, with the appropriate forms.
• Margin or options approval if applicable.
• Privacy notice, electronic delivery consent, and other custodian-required acknowledgments.

Typical workflow

1. Initiate at custodian's portal or paper form.
2. Verify identity (CIP) — government ID, address verification, SSN/TIN match.
3. Capture beneficiary designations.
4. Execute trading authority and any special permissions.
5. Sign electronically or in wet ink; submit.
6. Custodian opens account; account number issued.
7. Fund the account — ACH, wire, or ACATS transfer.

What examiners look for

• CIP completed and documented before any recommendations.
• Beneficiary forms collected and current — missing beneficiaries are a recurring deficiency.
• Trading authority matches the engagement scope.
• Margin and options approvals supported by the client's documented experience and capacity.
• Original or imaged documents retained per Rule 204-2.

Common failure modes

• Account opened, recommendations made, but CIP not completed for weeks.
• Beneficiary forms blank or out of date — particularly painful for retirement accounts.
• Margin or options approved without supporting client information.
• Trading authority broader than the advisory agreement.

How StratiFi thinks about account opening

Account opening is operational but the records it produces become foundational compliance evidence. The firms that hold up under examination treat it as a connected workflow — CIP, beneficiary, authority, funding — with each step producing a timestamped record stored in the right system. Done well, it's a non-event; done badly, it produces deficiency findings months later.