# Financial Industry Employer

## Problem Overview

Your account verification requires additional review because your employer is a bank, brokerage, insurance company, investment firm, or other financial institution. Working at a financial institution does not automatically make you a professional data user — but it does require us to look more closely at your actual job responsibilities before we can classify your account.

## Why Financial Industry Employees Get Additional Review

Exchange regulations require Market Data to classify every subscriber as either a professional or non-professional data user. For most subscribers, a job title and employer are enough to make this determination. But at financial institutions, the same company can employ both professional and non-professional users depending on the role:

| Role                          | Classification   | Reason                                                                        |
|-------------------------------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Portfolio Manager             | Professional     | Makes investment decisions                                                    |
| Investment Adviser            | Professional     | Provides tailored investment advice to clients                                |
| Trader                        | Professional     | Executes securities or derivatives trades                                     |
| Research Analyst              | Professional     | Produces investment research that influences trading decisions                |
| Software Developer (fin-tech) | Professional     | Develops software that supports investment activities                         |
| Administrative Assistant      | Non-Professional | Provides administrative support without engaging in investment activities     |
| Customer Service Rep          | Non-Professional | Handles inquiries without providing investment advice                         |
| Compliance Officer            | Non-Professional | Ensures regulatory compliance but does not engage in investment decisions     |
| HR Manager                    | Non-Professional | Manages human resources, not involved in investment activities                |
| Accountant                    | Non-Professional | Handles financial records and reporting, not directly involved in investments |

Because we cannot determine your classification from your employer name alone, we need to understand what you actually do day-to-day.

## How to Fix

Contact our [support helpdesk](https://www.marketdata.app/dashboard/) and provide a brief description of your **actual daily job responsibilities**. Specifically, we need to know whether your role involves any of the following:

- Trading, executing, or managing securities, commodities, or derivatives
- Providing investment advice or recommendations to clients
- Managing investment portfolios or making investment decisions
- Producing research that influences trading or advisory decisions
- Developing software or systems that directly support investment activities

If your role does **not** involve any of the above — for example, if you work in IT, operations, HR, compliance, accounting, marketing, or administrative support — you will typically be classified as non-professional, even though your employer is a financial institution.

### Supporting Documentation

To speed up the review, you can also provide any of the following:

- A link to your **LinkedIn profile** showing your current role and responsibilities
- A **resume or CV** that describes your job function
- A **company directory listing** or job description that outlines your responsibilities

## What Determines Your Classification

Your classification is based on your **job function**, not your employer. The key question is whether your day-to-day work involves securities-related activities — not whether the company you work for is in financial services.

For example, a software developer at a social media company is non-professional, but a software developer at a fin-tech startup building trading tools is professional. The same logic applies within a bank: an HR manager is non-professional, but a relationship manager advising clients on investments is professional.

See [Professional Status Policy](/docs/account/data-policies/professional-status/) for the full classification criteria, or read [Professional Status Explained](https://www.marketdata.app/education/stocks/professional-status-explained/) for a detailed guide with additional examples.

## Still Need Help?

If you are unsure how your role would be classified, contact our [support helpdesk](https://www.marketdata.app/dashboard/) and describe your day-to-day responsibilities. Our support team will let you know what classification applies.

We typically respond within a few hours during market hours or within 1 business day outside of market hours.