A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee.

In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and may need to hold a relevant license and may be a member of a stock exchange.

It is a quintessence of academic learning and a paragon of fraudulence; it is a touchstone for the intelligent and a tombstone for the audacious, a treasury of usefulness and a source of disaster, (...) The best and most agreeable aspect of the new business is that one can become rich without risk.

Indeed, without endangering your capital, and with out having anything to do with correspondence, advances of money, warehouses, postage, cashiers, suspensions of payment, and other unforeseen incidents, you have the prospect of gaining wealth if, in the case of bad luck in your transactions, you will only change your name.

Just as the Hebrews, when they are seriously ill, change their names in order to obtain relief, so a changing of his name is sufficient for the speculator who finds himself in difficulties, to free himself from all impending dangers and tormenting disquietude.The first recorded buying and selling of shares occurred in Rome in the 2nd century BC.

[3] After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, stockbroking did not become a profession until after the Renaissance, when government bonds were traded in Italian city-states such as Genoa and Venice.

[7] Up until January 1, 2019, investment professionals that offer financial advice in Australia had to pass training pursuant to RG146.

[26] It represents the interests of around 12,000 investment professionals and is part of the worldwide network of members of the CFA Institute.

[27] The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self-regulatory organization, regulates investment professionals in the United States.

[28] Individuals holding some of those licenses, such as the Series 6 exam, cannot be called stockbrokers since they are prohibited from selling stocks.