Form CRS is a short relationship summary, usually two pages, that SEC-registered investment advisers and broker-dealers must give retail investors to explain their services, fees, conflicts of interest and disciplinary history.
The SEC has required it since June 30, 2020. Every firm uses the same headings in the same order: Introduction; Relationships and Services; Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct; Disciplinary History; and Additional Information. That fixed order is the point: you can put two firms' summaries side by side and compare them section by section.
It is short by rule: two pages on paper for a broker or an adviser, and up to four for a dual registrant that describes both kinds of service in one summary. It also includes conversation starters, questions the firm must print for you to ask about fees, conflicts and disciplinary history.
An adviser must give it to you before or when you sign an advisory agreement. A broker must give it before or at the earliest of recommending an account or investment, placing an order, or opening an account. A firm with a public website must post the current version there.
How to check
Search the firm on Investor.gov's Check Out Your Investment Professional tool or the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site, open the firm's details, and click Relationship Summary. Read the fees and conflicts section, then compare the disciplinary history answer with the firm's record.
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