Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 is a federal law, enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that regulates telemarketing calls, automated dialing systems, prerecorded messages, and unsolicited fax advertisements. For securities firms, it is the key law governing cold calling — phoning prospects who have no existing relationship with the firm.

The TCPA's best-known rule is its calling-hours restriction: solicitation calls may only be made between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm in the recipient's local time zone, not the caller's. Callers must also identify themselves by name, give the name of the firm they represent, and provide a phone number or address where the firm can be contacted. Firms must maintain their own do-not-call lists, promptly honor any request to stop calling, and screen numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry.

Several exceptions exist, but each one lifts a specific rule rather than the TCPA as a whole. Calls made with the recipient's prior express consent, calls to consumers who have an established business relationship with the firm, and calls placed by tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry restriction — the calling-hours window, the caller-identification requirements, and the firm's internal do-not-call obligations still apply. An established business relationship also stops protecting the caller the moment that consumer asks the firm to stop calling.

The SIE exam tests the TCPA directly — expect questions on the 8 am to 9 pm local-time window, the caller identification requirements, and how do-not-call requests must be handled.