Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Wall Street will soon be awash in new ink as fingerprinting becomes mandatory under an anti-terrorism bill signed into law by New York Gov. George Pataki.
The measure, effective immediately, requires fingerprinting for all technical and support workers at securities associations registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That means FBI criminal background checks for anyone employed by the New York and American stock exchanges and the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The major figures in financial transactions on Wall Street -- brokers and floor traders -- already were subject to fingerprinting under existing state and federal laws.
ADVERTISEMENT
Anyone wishing to be a broker or deal with public equities must be fingerprinted before the National Association of Securities Dealers will certify them, said NASD spokesman Michael Shokouhi, describing the current system as self-policing.
The new law is good for ensuring confidence in the market, said Bob Rendine, a spokesman for the American Stock Exchange.
