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To explain a new set of rules, detailed in FINRA Regulatory Notice 17-30, proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that revise and streamline the number and types of proficiency exams broker-dealer personnel must take in order to become registered, as well as the categories of registration.

Discusses the background, including FINRA’s consolidation of National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) rules; the new registration regime; conditions for waivers; criteria for “permissive” registration; firms’ requirement to designate “Principal Financial Officers” and “Principal Operations Officers”; new categories of principal registration; FINRA’s elimination of certain registration categories; research analyst, research principal and supervisory analyst exam requirements; the ability of a registered representative to function as a principal for a limited period; the prohibition of unregistered persons to accept orders from customers; and the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Examination Content Outline.

The new structure is intended to bring greater consistency and uniformity to the qualification process. Among other changes, it eliminates several registration categories that either have become outdated or have limited utility, permits persons not yet associated with a broker-dealer or employed in the securities industry to take a preliminary registration exam prior to entering the securities industry, and makes other changes intended to modernize the registration and examination regime for broker-dealer personnel.

Practical guidance from lawyers with broad stock brokerage, investment management and related financial services experience.

This chapter provides an overview of five modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, designs, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets – available in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. After describing the purposes of and principal differences among the five types of IP protection and outlining the advantages of each form, the chapter provides country- and region-specific information. The authors highlight the aspects of IP law in which international harmonization has, or has not yet, occurred, and offer insights into the relative advantages of various national and regional IP protection systems.

The land sector in Ghana, particularly skin lands acquisition and title registration are fraught with several issues including unreliable record-keeping systems and land encroachments. The paper explores the potential of blockchain application in skin lands acquisition and title registration in Ghana with the aim of developing a blockchain-enabled framework for land acquisition. The purpose of this paper is to use the framework as a tool towards solving some of the loopholes in the process that leads to numerous issues bedeviling the current system.

The paper adopts a systematic literature review approach fused with informal discussions with key informants and leverages on the researchers’ own experiences to conceptualize blockchain application in skin lands acquisition in Ghana.

Problems bedeviling skin lands acquisition and title registration emanated from the issuance of allocation notes, payment of kola money and use of a physical ledger to document land transactions. As a result, the developed framework was designed to respond to these issues and deal with the problems. As the proposed blockchain framework would be a public register, it was argued that information on all transactions on a specific parcel of land could be available to the public in real-time. This enhances transparency and possibly resolves the issue of encroachments and indeterminate land boundaries because stakeholders can determine rightful owners of land parcels before initiating transactions.

Practically, blockchain technology has the potential to deal with the numerous issues affecting the smooth operation of skin lands acquisition and title registration in Ghana. Once the enumerated issues are resolved, there will be certainty of title to and ownership of land and property to drive investments because lenders could more easily ascertain owners of land parcels that could be used as collateral for securing loans. Similarly, property developers and land purchasers could easily identify rightful owners for land transactions. The government would be able to identify owners for land and property taxation.

This paper contributes to the literature on blockchain and application to land acquisition and title registration with a focus on a specific customary land ownership system.

This chapter provides an overview of the five main modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and designs – available in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. After describing the purposes of and principal differences among the five types of IP protection and outlining the advantages of each form, the chapter provides country- and region-specific information. The authors highlight the aspects of IP law in which international harmonization has, or has not yet, occurred, and offer insights into the relative advantages of various national and regional IP protection systems.

Against a backdrop of concerns regarding the quality and equity of the final practice-based pre-registration training year, the purpose of this paper is to examine how robust and equitable current education and training arrangements in Great Britain are in preparing newly qualified pharmacists (NQPs) for practice.

In addition to considering relevant regulator, policy and research literature, this paper presents findings from a longitudinal qualitative study that tracked 20 pharmacy trainees and their tutors during pre-registration training and early registered practice. Trainees were interviewed four times over a 12-month period; tutors were interviewed twice. Semi-structured interviews explored learning and development, work environment and support received. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically using template analysis.

Currently, there are no requirements tor training pre-registration tutors, or for accreditation or quality assurance of training sites. Longitudinal interview findings showed that community trainees developed knowledge of over-the-counter and less complex, medicines whereas hospital trainees learnt about specialist medicines on ward rotations. Hospital trainees received support from a range of pharmacists, overseen by their tutor and other healthcare professionals. Community trainees generally worked within a small pharmacy team, closely supervised by their tutor, who was usually the sole pharmacist. NQPs were challenged by having full responsibility and accountability as independent practitioners, without formal support mechanisms.

The variability in trainee experience and exposure across settings raises concerns over the robustness and equity of pre-registration training. The lack of formal support mechanisms post-registration may pose risks to patient safety and pharmacists’ well-being.

Measurement uncertainty calculation is an important and complicated problem in digitised components inspection. In such inspections, a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and laser scanner are usually used to get the surface point clouds of the component in different postures. Then, the point clouds are registered to construct fully connected point clouds of the component’s surfaces. However, in most cases, the measurement uncertainty is difficult to estimate after the scanned point cloud has been registered. This paper aims to propose a simplified method for calculating the uncertainty of point cloud measurements based on spatial feature registration.

In the proposed method, algorithmic models are used to calculate the point cloud measurement uncertainty based on noncontact measurements of the planes, lines and points of the component and spatial feature registration.

The measurement uncertainty based on spatial feature registration is related to the mutual position of registration features and the number of sensor commutation in the scanning process, but not to the spatial distribution of the measured feature. The results of experiments conducted verify the efficacy of the proposed method.

The proposed method provides an efficient algorithm for calculating the measurement uncertainty of registration point clouds based on part features, and therefore has important theoretical and practical significance in digitised components inspection.

The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between internationally educated nurses’ (IENs’) performance in a registered nurse competency assessment process and the outcomes of their nursing registration applications. Assessments of nursing practice competencies, IEN applicant characteristics and registration outcomes were explored.

This is a secondary statistical analysis of a subset of IEN application data from a previous study in combination with assessment data from an additional database. Application data between 2008 and 2011 were analyzed using univariate/bivariate analyses and regression models to explore the relationship of performance in the assessment process and outcomes of the registration process.

Competency categories IEN applicants had difficulties with (from least to most) were Professional Responsibility and Accountability, Ethical Practice, Self-Regulation, Service to the Public, Knowledge-Based Practice: Specialized Body of Knowledge and Knowledge-Based Practice: Competent Application of Knowledge. IENs educated in the UK and USA had the highest scores and odds of meeting competencies. Applicants educated in India and Asia had lower scores and odds ratios. All national entry-to-practice examination and registration eligibility competencies were significantly related to registration outcomes. Applicants passing the exam had higher competency scores while applicants ineligible for registration had lower competency scores.

Limitations include integrity of data extracted from active databases, IEN motivation to complete the RN registration process and conversion of assessment scales for research analysis.

Results inform regulation policies that improve IEN registration processes and may be informative to regulators, assessment centers, educational institutions and IENs.

On 21st July 1994 the Trade Marks Act 1994 received the Royal Assent. It introduces the most radical overhaul of British trade mark law for over 50 years and replaces the current regime set out in the Trade Marks Act 1938 as amended. The reforms reflect the increased significance of trade marks in modern commerce and the concerns of business that the current law was increasingly anachronistic.

Indicates that it is 14 years since the Beavis Consultative Committee recommended that the matter of hotel registration and its effectiveness be reviewed within three to five years. Presents definitions of registration, classification and grading together with a recent historical perspective of the developments of statutory registration in the United Kingdom. Examines the reasons for statutory registration and describes existing UK compulsory schemes outside the mainland. Contrasts the lack of progress in the UK, and the degree to which price and tariff controls are in operation, with schemes in the European Community. A brief literature review presents the support for statutory registration and classification. Re‐examines the eight conclusions of the Beavis Consultative Committee. Concludes that it may be pertinent to review the position of statutory hotel registration, classification and grading.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether title to land is secure in England and Wales when registered under the Land Registration Act 2002, in particular when a title is registered without the proprietor being able to establish good title under pre‐registration rules of property law.

This paper analyses reported judgments, with particular emphasis on the decision in Walker v. Burton [2012].

The paper identifies an uncertainty at the heart of the registration system: the uncertainty as to the extent to which a registered title may be rectified to remove the proprietor. This is acute when it appears that the registered proprietor has no claim to the land other than by reason of his registration. There may be a difference in this regard between intangible property titles and tangible titles.

The Land Registration Act 2002 is meant to replace registration of title with title by registration. The real force of this is only now being realised and there are few reported judgements, and less consistency, working out what this means in practice.