Introduction
If you’re reading this, you probably already know the basics about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, capital markets, retirement accounts, FINRA and SEC rules and other important securities industry information. That’s because you likely passed the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam. Congratulations! Passing the SIE is an important step in your industry education. If you have a job at a FINRA member firm and you want to become a registered representative, now you’re going to have to pass a “corequisite” job-specific FINRA qualification exam, in this case, the Series 79.
The Series 79 exam, officially called the Investment Banking Representative Qualification Examination, was developed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to assess the skills and competency of entry-level investment bankers. Although the test is ostensibly designed for junior-level bankers, make no mistake: the Series 79 is a challenging exam.
Regulators require you to successfully summit Mount Series 79 because once you’ve passed the Series 79 exam, you are permitted to do something that few people are: advise on and/or facilitate on the following:
• Debt and equity offerings (private placement or public offering)
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Tender offers
• Financial restructurings
• Asset sales
• Divestitures or other corporate reorganizations
• Business combination transactions
Regulators want to make sure you don’t behave like Agent 007, and that’s a key reason the Series exams exist: to make sure that everyone in the securities industry knows and plays by the rules. The rules are a big part of the Series 79. But becoming registered as an Investment Banking Representative is about more than learning to play by the rules; it means you are expected to be competent. That’s why passing the Series 79 will require you to master complex subject matter. The Series 79 is a high bar, but once