Identifying Information

Guidance for each required piece of company identifying information is below:

1. Entity name and EIN

The entity name should be the full legal name as found in the formation documents and as shown on the documentation provided by the domestic state. On a new application, the company may be required to submit formation documents in the Document Uploads section. Consult the state’s licensing requirements checklist to see if any states in which you are applying require these documents.

Attention:

It is important that each Company is set up by their legal name and not by any trade name or “doing business as” name.

If the applicant or licensee is a sole proprietor, then they should use their Last, First, Middle names, and suffix (“Jr”, “III”, etc.) if any. Do not enter a professional or academic suffix.

Note: As noted above in E. Amendments to a Company’s Structure That Will Require the Creation of a New NMLS Record, if the Full Name of Applicant changes for an existing licensee, but the Employer Identification Number, the State / Province & Country of formation, and the Date of Formation does not change, NMLS will not require a new record to be created in the System. The EINis the Taxpayer Identification Number issued by the IRS. If the applicant is a sole proprietor without employees, this number may be the sole proprietor’s Social Security Number (SSN) or an IRS issued EIN. These numbers are also known as “FEIN” or “TIN.”

This number may or may not change upon amendment to reorganize the company. For example, a sole proprietor without employees may use the proprietor’s SSN, but if the proprietor establishes an LLC or Corp, the company will need an EIN even if no employees are added at the time of re-organization.

Important: Many states require currently approved companies to provide the regulator with advance notice before making changes to their legal name and/or main address. An advance change notification allows the regulator to review the change prior to its effective date and indicate to the licensee if the proposed change is acceptable.

2. Do you want to amend your legal name?

This field gives licensees the ability to change their name in NMLS. In most states, name changesrequire additional documentation and approval by the state regulator(s). See the state licensing requirements amendment checklists or consult your state regulator prior to changing your name in NMLS.

Additionally, some states charge a fee for a name change. The Total Charges section of your filing (upper right corner) will indicate when this occurs as part of a filing.

3. Main address (do not use a PO box)

A physical address is required. Since NMLS contains a single record on a company, the main address listed shall be the principal executive office that is a single place, domestic or foreign, where a company’s key individuals (such as control persons) direct, control, and coordinate the company’s activities.

Tip: In practice the main address should normally be the place where the company maintains its headquarters—provided that the headquarters is the actual center of direction, control,and coordination, i.e., the “nerve center,” and not simply an office where the company holds its board meetings or the like.

NMLS presumes that the license authority conferred with a Company Form (MU1) is a general license authority for a company. The main address is automatically considered by the system as a licensed or registered location.

Tip: Notwithstanding the system requirement, depending upon the activity being conducted at the main address, a state may not require the main address to be licensed or registered. If no licensable activity is being conducted at the main address location as defined above (i.e., a majority of states would not require that location to be licensed or registered), then the operations hub for the licensee may be listed as the main address.

4. Business phone, fax, and email address

Provide a business phone, toll-free phone number, fax, and email address for a contact person in your organization.

5. Mailing address

Licensees who use a drop box or PO Box for their mailing can indicate a Mailing Address. A copy button is available to copy the main address if the mailing address is the same.

6. Any other business locations?

If you answer Yes to this question, consult the state licensing requirements to determine if you need to file a Branch Form (MU3) for each of these locations.


The Identifying Information screen on the NMLS MU1 Company account setup screens