I work at a trading firm and had to get a Series 7. It's a prop shop and I don't handle anyone else's money, but still. Brokerage firms require me to register as a professional user....IF I ask them directly whether I qualify. I'd like to open an IB account for personal use. Has anyone had any experience with someone getting quotes as a non-professional, then having some regulatory agency discover later that they technically qualified as a professional because of something like a Series 7 license? Do you make you backpay for all the quotes received? Or just start paying them at that point? Any ideas?