U.S. regulators are proposing to step up background checks on people registered to work in the securities industry.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that its board of governors has approved amendments to its rules that would expand the obligations of brokerage firms to verify the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in applications for registration. These applications disclose employment background, past disciplinary incidents, and other information.

Under the proposed amendments, firms would be required to adopt written procedures in this area that would include searching public records to verify the information. The expanded obligations would apply to both first-time applicants and transfers, FINRA notes.

Separately, FINRA says that it also plans to search public financial records for all registered reps, and that it will be searching publicly available criminal records for all registered individuals who have not been fingerprinted within the last five years. In the future, it also plans to conduct periodic reviews of public records to ascertain the accuracy and completeness of the information available to investors, regulators and firms. “These efforts also better position FINRA to assess firm and registered individual compliance with reporting requirements,” it says.

FINRA notes that it is also considering whether additional data from its central registration system (known as the Central Registration Depository (CRD)) should be included in the BrokerCheck system, which is an online tool that allows investors to investigate brokers’ backgrounds. The regulator says that its chief economist has initiated a study to see if there is a meaningful relationship between that data (includes reports of failed examinations) and broker misconduct.

Earlier this year, FINRA and the BrokerCheck system was criticized by a group of lawyers that represent investors in disputes against the industry, which charged that critical information is missing from the BrokerCheck system. The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) called for more comprehensive information to be included in the public disclosure to investors.

“FINRA would require firms to use publicly available records to verify that information such as criminal and bankruptcy records, civil litigations, judgments and liens are properly reported upon a registered individual’s application,” said Richard Ketchum, FINRA’s chairman and CEO. “FINRA encourages every investor to use BrokerCheck to research the background of individuals they are trusting to invest their money.”

The amendments to the supervision rule will be submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval.