Can licensed professionals join a referral program? Rules by role

The short answer: you can join, and your own rules decide the rest

Yes. The SourceX partner program is open to anyone in a supported country, and holding a professional license does not change that. What a license changes is what happens after you register: whether you may accept a reward for introducing a particular client, what you must disclose and to whom, and what you may say about a client before it agrees to be introduced.

Split the question in three, because the answers often differ:

1. Join: does your firm, employer or regulator require notice or approval before you take on a paid outside relationship?
2. Keep: for this specific company, does any rule stop you accepting compensation, for example because your firm audits it or a court appointed you?
3. Tell: what written disclosure or consent does your rule require, and who receives it: the client, your firm, a compliance officer or a court?

A yes to joining with a no to keeping is common and workable. You can still make an uncompensated introduction.

What is actually true about the program

Have these facts in front of you when you speak to compliance; every profession's analysis turns on them.

• SourceX pays the reward out of its own platform fee. Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company.
• Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; a lead, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed.
• The reward is never deducted from what the company receives. The company is quoted one all-in price with SourceX's fee already inside it.
• Your role ends with the introduction and basic fit information. You never export, upload or describe the company's confidential records.
• The company keeps ownership of its data, approves scope and price, and is bound only once it signs.
• Credit goes to the first valid referrer whose introduction leads to a verified company application within the attribution window.

The partner rules are set out in the program terms. Send a copy to whoever reviews outside activities at your firm before you register.

Which rule governs your profession?

Find your role, read the rule set named, then follow the link for detail. Where a cell says to ask, that is the honest position: the answer depends on your jurisdiction, your firm and the client.

Rows that need a closer look

Registered representatives. Outside activity rules are changing. FINRA reported that the SEC approved new Rule 3290 (Outside Activities) on September 15, 2026, replacing Rules 3270 and 3280; FINRA will announce the effective date in a Regulatory Notice, and until then the existing rules apply. Either way, tell your firm before you register.

Lawyers. Bar rules on giving and receiving value for recommendations are set state by state. The ABA keeps a chart of how state advertising and solicitation rules differ from the Model Rules, a quick way to see how far your state departs from the template.

Restructuring officers. In chapter 11 the debtor usually keeps possession and control of its assets as debtor in possession, as the federal judiciary's chapter 11 overview explains. A CRO serving that debtor works under court oversight, so raise any outside payment connected to the company's assets with retention counsel before anything else.

Partners outside the US. You can join from any supported country, but the companies you introduce must be US companies. Tax paperwork for any reward is set by the program terms and your own tax position; the IRS explains Form W-9 for US taxpayers and Form W-8BEN for non-US individuals, and your tax adviser can say which applies. Your home regulator's rules on referral fees still apply to you.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, tax adviser or professional body before acting.

What to say to compliance and to the client

Two short messages cover most situations. Adapt them, and do not add promises.

What to do if your rules say no

A restriction on keeping the reward rarely means the client should miss the opportunity.

• Introduce without compensation. Point the owner to sourcex.si/apply and let the company apply on its own. Because the reward never comes out of the company's proceeds, declining it does not change what the company receives.
• Do not route around the rule. Passing the reward through a spouse, a colleague or a side entity to sidestep a restriction defeats the rule's purpose and is likely to be treated the same way. Ask before trying any structure.
• Check whether the restriction has an end date. Some limits are tied to an engagement or the period it covers. Ask your professional body when yours ends rather than assuming.
• Write it down. A short file note of what you checked, who you asked and what they said protects you if the question comes up later.

Who should not register personally

Some people are better off not holding a partner account in their own name:

• Employees whose contract assigns outside compensation to the employer or forbids it.
• Court-appointed fiduciaries, for companies in the estate they administer.
• Anyone who cannot reach an owner, CEO, CFO or other authorized sponsor directly.

The companies worth introducing are US businesses that reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), with several years of documented operations, the rights to license their records and a sponsor able to sign. The company fit checker gives a quick, non-binding read before you say anything to a client.

Next step

Clear the join, keep and tell questions with your compliance team, then register as a partner. If your rules bar the reward, the company can still apply directly.