Access to Problem-Broker Database Is Pushed : Securities: State regulators support the proposal and will formally submit it at a congressional hearing today.

Investors should be allowed to use their home computers to troll through the securities industry’s disciplinary records on problem brokers and firms, a group of state regulators says.

Consumer activists on Tuesday hailed the idea, proposed by the National Assn. of State Securities Administrators, as a major boost for consumers seeking to get a fair shake in the securities markets.

John R. Perkins, state securities regulator for Missouri, plans to formally make the proposal today at a congressional hearing on problem brokers. Associated Press obtained an advance copy of Perkins’ testimony.

“Direct and uncensored public access to CRD disciplinary files would mean speedier access to critical information for investors and also would dramatically turn up the heat on problem brokers,” said Perkins, who heads a task force on weeding out problem brokers.

The CRD, or Central Registration Depository, is a vast database containing all enforcement records against the nation’s 460,000 registered brokers and traders, as well as 5,500 securities firms. The records, some dating to the early 1950s, provide details of specific securities law violations, arbitration settlements, fines and lawsuits.

The CRD is run by the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, the industry’s main self-regulatory body. The nation’s stock and commodities exchanges, as well as state regulators, contribute to the system.

The public has only limited access to the records, via a toll-free phone number run by the NASD.

The NASD is in the midst of a $12-million upgrade of the database that would enable regulators to perform sophisticated surveillance and analysis of the records, which currently are in an outdated format that limits searching.

Perkins said state regulators envision a day in which investors could use computers in their homes or in public libraries to download both the corporate filings and the disciplinary files to check on a firm or a broker’s reputation.

Although experts agree that the CRD suffers from outdated technology, the database remains a powerful research tool. Perkins is proposing that the CRD files be made available on the global Internet computer network, in much the same way as the SEC’s electronic corporate records.