SIE Exam

October 1, 2018.

The SIE exam tests fundamental securities-related knowledge, including knowledge of basic products, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. It will also test securities industry rules and regulations.

No, unlike other FINRA licensing exams, you do not need to be employed or sponsored in order to take the SIE exam.

Not necessarily, the SIE is a corequisite for the representative-level top off exams, and the MSRB Series 52. You may take your top-off exam before the SIE, but you must pass both in order to become a registered representative. Most municipal and NASAA exams do not require the SIE (with the exception of the Series 52). Finally, if you passed a representative-level exam on or prior to October 1st, 2018, you do not need to take the SIE exam.

The SIE covers basic or "essential" securities industry knowledge. When FINRA introduced the SIE, they also introduced new, shorter versions of their specialized representative-level exams (such as the Series 7, Series 6 or Series 79). These exams “top-off” your knowledge of the industry with more specific information based on which one you take, thus the name “top-off exam." You may choose to study for your SIE and top-off exam simultaneously, and even take them on the same day if you would like. However, most people take the SIE first and then take a representative-level (top-off) exam. Note: for students taking the SIE and a top-off exam, see discounted Solomon Exam Prep Top-Off bundles here.

No. In order to be a registered representative, in addition to passing the SIE exam, you must get hired by a broker-dealer. Your employer must then sponsor you to take a representative-level qualifying exam, also known as a top-off exam, such as the Series 6, Series 7, or Series 79. Once you pass a top-off exam, you will be registered with FINRA and then be considered a registered representative.

If you were a registered representative before October 1, 2018, and you have maintained your registration after October 1, 2018, FINRA has credited you with the SIE automatically.

If your registration lapses, you can be outside the industry for up to four years before you would need to take the SIE. In other words, you will not have to take the SIE, provided you register as a representative within four years from the date of your last registration. After four years pass, you would need to take the SIE before reentering the industry. For example, if you left the industry on October 31, 2018, you have until October 31, 2022, to become registered again before you would need to take the SIE.

However, a two-year timeline applies to the top-off exams, such as the Series 6 or Series 7. In other words, after two years outside the industry, if you want to become registered again, you will have to retake the top-off exam.

In order to get re-registered, you will have to pass the SIE and any relevant top-off exam, such as the Series 6 or Series 7.

If you are registered in an exam license that FINRA is retiring, such as the Series 11, Series 62, Series 42 or Series 72, you will not have to take the SIE. You will only have to take the SIE if you left the industry for more than two years and your license expired. 

If you return to the industry within two years, you will not have to take the SIE. 

The MSRB has coordinated its licensing exams with the new SIE.  After October 2018, to become a Municipal Securities Representative you will need to first take the SIE and then a revised “top-off” version of the Series 52 exam.

No, regardless of whether you took the SIE originally or not (based on the date of your registration), if you are already a registered representative and your registration has not lapsed, you don't need to take the SIE to get another representative level license.

Yes, you must take the SIE, as well as a representative level exam (such as the Series 6) to sell variable annuities. You must also be employed by a registered broker-dealer.

Solomon recommends studying for 60 hours. Depending on your timeframe, you can choose a 4, 6, 8, or 11-week Solomon study schedule.

Solomon offers a complete SIE study program, which includes digital Study Guide, Exam Simulator, Audiobook, Video Lecture, Flashcards, and Live Web Classes. Visit the Solomon SIE page to learn more.

To enroll for the SIE Exam, follow the instructions on the FINRA website here.

After you register with FINRA to take the SIE Exam, you must then schedule a time to sit for the exam with Prometric, FINRA’s testing service. Prometric offers online or in person exam sessions.

Yes, FINRA gives you a 120-day window within which you may schedule your SIE exam.

FINRA member firms have two options for registering an employee:

1.  File Form U4 requesting a registration position. When a person takes the SIE this way, the result will be visible in CRD just like any other exam.

2.  Request the SIE through CRD via a non-Form U4 enrollment process. The firm will be able to view the SIE result as part of this process if the firm subsequently files a Form U4 requesting a registration position for this person. Once this happens, the SIE result will become viewable in the Exam History section in CRD.

Anyone 18 years and older can take the SIE. 

The exam is administered via computer, either remotely or in a testing center.

The SIE costs $80.

You need not bring any materials on test day apart from the required forms of identification. A calculator is provided on the testing application, as well as a virtual “notepad” for you to jot things down. If you are testing remotely, this notepad does not carry over from one question to another, and you must input your entries on your keyboard. If you are testing in person, they will provide you with a physical notepad as well.

There are 85 questions, 10 of which are unscored, for a total of 75 scored questions.

You will have 105 minutes to take the exam. 

If you choose to take the exam in a testing center, you may navigate back and forth between questions, and thus go back to a question if you want to change your answer. If you take the exam remotely, you are unable to go back.

Prometric launched their service ProProctor in June 2020, which allows exam takers to sit for certain exams online. There are many anti-cheating regulations that FINRA requires, so consult Prometric’s ProProctor Info, or our blog post on the process to see how it works. 

When taking an exam in person at a Prometric testing center, there may be certain safety precautions in place. Consult this page on Prometric’s website to see their updates.

If you are testing in a testing center, there may be other individuals taking their exam while you take yours. Prometric has taken steps to assure that COVID-19 regulations are followed in this case.

Yes, but you must schedule each exam separately.

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The Prometric system will notify you of whether you passed immediately after you finish your exam. You will only receive a score if you fail the exam. If you take the exam in person at a testing center, you will receive a printed confirmation of your result. If you take the exam remotely using ProProctor, you will receive an encrypted email with your SIE pass results.

The SIE exam is valid for four years from the date you pass.

If you fail the SIE, you can retake it, but you will have to wait 30 days. FINRA maintains a 30/30/180-day rule with respect to the SIE, as well as all other exams. This means that you must wait 30 days after the first time you fail, and another 30 days if you fail again. If you fail a third time, you will have to wait 180 days to retake the exam. For any attempts after the third attempt, the waiting period is also 180 days.

The SIE alone does not appear on FINRA BrokerCheck or CRD, but once a firm files a U4, it will be pulled into the individual’s CRD history. Once an individual passes a representative-level exam, the SIE will appear in BrokerCheck.