What Is the Series 63 Exam?
The Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, better known as the "Series 63 Exam," qualifies candidates as securities agents. The Series 63 exam tests the candidate's knowledge of state securities regulations consistent with the Uniform Securities Act. The exam also tests professional conduct rules prohibiting dishonest and unethical securities practices. The Series 63 exam helps state securities administrators qualify candidates for state securities licenses.
Who Administers the Series 63 Exam?
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) administers the Series 63 exam, like the Series 6, Series 7, and other securities licensing exams securities brokers and agents commonly take. Although a private nonprofit regulatory authority, FINRA has federal government authorization to regulate securities professionals and firms for confidence in the securities markets. FINRA ensures the character, knowledge, and competence of securities professionals and firms.
Who Drafts the Series 63 Exam?
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) appoints a committee of securities agents and regulators to approve Series 63 exam questions with the support of FINRA exam administrators. NASAA represents securities regulators in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. State regulators organized NASAA more than a century ago as an international investor protection organization to increase investor confidence in securities markets. While FINRA exam administrators assemble the Series 63 exam from a pool of approved questions, NASAA committee members approve the questions and their weighting, the exam study guide, and exam procedures.
Who Takes the Series 63 Exam?
Individuals soliciting the purchase or sale of securities within a state must take the Series 63 exam. Passing the Series 63 exam is one of the requirements for state licensure to solicit securities transactions. One can generally buy and sell securities for oneself without a securities license. But to solicit others to buy and sell securities requires a state license earned in part by passing the Series 63 exam. If you face issues qualifying for, scheduling, completing or passing the Series 63 exam, retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento to help you address and overcome those issues. You very likely need to pass the Series 63 exam for the securities license, job, and career you desire.
Related SIE, Series 6, and Series 7 Exams
The Series 63 exam is an entry-level exam for a securities agent wishing to solicit securities transactions. The state licensure obtained in part through passing the Series 63 exam does not qualify an agent to complete securities transactions. Securities professionals who wish to buy or sell securities for a FINRA member firm must take other exams to do so. Those exams may include the Securities Industries Essentials (SIE) exam and its top-off Series 7 exam. FINRA also administers the Series 6 for the sale of investment and variable annuity contracts and several other securities exams. NASAA also supports more than just the Series 63 exam; also offering Series 65 and Series 66 exams through FINRA.
Series 63 Exam Format
The FINRA enrollment resource indicates that the Series 63 exam consists of sixty-five multiple-choice questions. Only sixty of those sixty-five questions count toward the examinee's score, although the examinee does not know which of those questions. The other five questions are pretest questions that may appear on future exams. The candidate must correctly answer at least forty-three of the sixty scored questions. Examinees have seventy-five minutes to complete the Series 63 exam.
Series 63 Exam Content
NASAA's Series 63 exam content outline indicates the following exam topics: investment advisor regulation 5%; advisor representative regulation 5%; broker-dealer regulation 15%; broker-dealer agent regulation 15%; securities and issuer regulation 5%; administrative procedures and remedies 10%; customer and prospect communication 20%; and ethics 25%. NASAA and FINRA officials draft and assemble the Series 63 exam to objectively distinguish between competent and not-yet-competent candidates for securities agent state licensure.
Series 63 Exam Timeline, Process, and Issues
Qualifying for the Series 63 Exam
Unlike FINRA's Series 7 exam and other exams, you need not have a securities firm sponsor your request to take the Series 63 exam. You need not have a securities firm submit a Form U4. And as an entry-level exam, the Series 63 exam does not require that you first affiliate with a firm. But if you are interning or working for a firm, then your firm may submit a Form U4 to request your Series 63 exam. Consult attorney advisor Lento if you face issues with your firm or otherwise qualifying for the Series 63 exam.
Issues Enrolling for the Series 7 Exam
Because FINRA and NASAA rules do not require your affiliation or sponsorship to take the Series 63 exam, both FINRA enrollment instructions and NASAA guidance indicate that either you or your securities firm may enroll you for the Series 63 exam. You may enroll on your own through FINRA's TESS enrollment system or work with your firm to have it do so for you through a Form U4 request. Either way, enrollment issues can arise around the required candidate application information. You must be scrupulously accurate in supplying personally identifying information like your full name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, and citizenship. Inaccurate, inconsistent, or incomplete information may result in delays in your enrollment or even enrollment refusals. Let attorney advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team assist you with enrollment issues. Misunderstandings over enrollment information should not delay or frustrate your securities agent licensure.
Scheduling Issues for the Series 63 Exam
Even if your enrollment goes smoothly, issues can arise scheduling your Series 63 exam. FINRA scheduling information indicates that its notice will give you only a 120-day window within which to schedule your exam appointment with the testing vendor Prometric. Illness, injury, work demands, travel schedules, dependent care, and other issues can interfere with a candidate's ability to schedule and complete the exam within the 120-day window. Candidates may even have transportation issues traveling to their Prometric testing center for the Series 63 exam, causing them to miss the scheduled exam. NASAA only offers its exams online for candidates having medical excuses. Otherwise, travel to a testing center is generally required. Attorney advisor Lento is available to help you address scheduling issues threatening your Series 63 exam passage and state licensure.
Issues During the Series 63 Exam
Other serious issues can arise when taking the Series 63 exam at a Prometric testing center. Prometric has elaborate rules and procedures for identifying yourself at the testing site, the materials and devices you must not carry into the testing center, how you must conduct yourself at the center and during the exam, and the materials you must not remove from the testing center. Reports or suspicions that you have violated test rules and procedures can result in Prometric removing you from the testing center or commencing an investigation that would delay and potentially revoke your passing score. Retain attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento the moment you face exam misconduct suspicions or charges so that you can present your exonerating and mitigating evidence through administrative procedures.
Issues Obtaining and Submitting Series 63 Exam Results
You should expect to hear from FINRA promptly after completing your Series 63 exam. FINRA indicates that its TESS enrollment system generally posts scores within 72 hours. If you do not see your score within a reasonable time frame, then Prometric, FINRA, or NASAA officials may be withholding your score for investigation of some irregularity or suspected misconduct. Even with a passing score, some candidates face issues completing their licensure soon enough after passing the Series 63 exam for their score to count. NASAA indicates that Series 63 exam results are generally good in most states for two years after you pass the exam. But check your state's requirements because some states may not follow the two-year rule. Retain attorney advisor Lento as soon as you suspect that irregularities are delaying your exam procedure.
Issues Retesting on the Series 63 Exam
If you fail to pass the Series 63 exam on your first try, you will likely get additional chances to pass. Don't hesitate to retest. Individual standardized exam scores can differ widely from one attempt to the next because of physiological, environmental, and other factors. Commercial test-prep information indicates that the Series 63 exam has about a seventy to seventy-five percent passing rate, which is hard but not too hard. NASAA indicates that it follows these FINRA rules for retaking the Series 63 exam after a failed attempt: a thirty-day waiting period for a first or second retake; a 180-day waiting period for a third or subsequent retake. Rescheduling a retake after the required waiting period involves a retake request through FINRA's Test Enrollment Services System (TESS). Retain attorney advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team if FINRA refuses your opportunity to retest.
FINRA Series 63 Exam Investigations
Your Prometric testing center won't be the only entity prepared to investigate Series 63 exam irregularities. In the event of cheating, impostor, or other misconduct suspicions, Prometric proctors will gather evidence and report to FINRA's Department of Enforcement. While Prometric exam officials may be a primary source for investigation reports, tips, and evidence, FINRA enforcement officials may also receive complaints or information from your fellow examinees, your securities firm's representatives, or anyone else claiming to have information relating to your alleged cheating or other irregularity. FINRA asserts that its investigations are initially confidential, which may help preserve your reputation. But confidentiality may also prevent you from learning of an ongoing investigation until FINRA officials have reached adverse conclusions. Retain attorney advisor Lento the moment you believe FINRA may suspect irregularities around your Series 63 exam qualification, enrollment, or administration. You and your retained attorney advisor may be able to present exonerating or mitigating evidence and information before a FINRA investigation concludes.
FINRA Series 63 Exam Adjudications
When FINRA determines that a member or candidate has violated its rules, including an applicant's violation of Series 63 exam procedures, FINRA publishes those findings in a public, searchable database. Although FINRA investigates confidentially, FINRA's adverse decisions imposing discipline are not generally confidential. Your employer or prospective employer, customers, and colleagues would all have access not only to the discipline but to its grounds or rationale. You have every interest in challenging allegations having to do with Series 63 exam irregularities. Fortunately, FINRA provides protective procedures your retained attorney advisor may invoke to present your account, witnesses, evidence, and explanations exonerating you from the charges and mitigating potential penalties. FINRA's procedures include both voluntary settlements and formal contested hearings. Do not attempt to navigate these administrative procedures without skilled and experienced attorney advisor representation. And do not voluntarily agree to crippling findings and sanctions. Instead, retain attorney advisor Lento to assist you in achieving your best possible outcome.
Series 63 Exam Issue Collateral Consequences
FINRA retains the authority to impose suspensions, bars, fines, reprimands, restitution, and other direct sanctions. FINRA publishes Sanction Guidelines detailing when it imposes which forms of discipline. FINRA also publishes press releases notifying the public of the names of candidates it has barred from taking FINRA exams. FINRA's enforcement head asserts in those press releases that FINRA vigorously pursues cheaters and others who violate its exam procedures. A testing bar means you won't qualify for a securities license. If you do not handle FINRA suspicions, allegations, and charges responsibly, you could not only lose your ability to take and pass the Series 63 exam and qualify for state licensure but also suffer severe collateral consequences.
Premier National Education Attorney Advisor
If you face Series 63 exam issues, you need to resolve those issues swiftly and surely to proceed toward your valuable and rewarding securities agent career. You especially need your best possible resolution if your issues involve suspicions, allegations, or charges of cheating, misconduct, or other irregularities implicating your character and fitness. Retain premier national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team for your best possible outcome. Attorney advisor Lento has helped hundreds of students and professionals nationwide favorably resolve their education, licensing, and certification issues. Retain the best available representative for your best professional outcome. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.
