About The FINRA Series 99 License And Exam Prep Materials

What Is A FINRA Series 99 License?

A FINRA Series 99 licence is typically used by Operations Professionals. These individuals are operations personnel who have the obligation to protect the firm and its customers from regulatory and financial harm.

As a Series 99 Operations Professional you will be qualified to handle client on-boarding, financial control, receipt and delivery of securities and funds and account transfers, and collection, maintenance, reinvestment and disbursements of funds.

Other permitted activities include stock loan/securities lending, posting entries to a member's books and records, defining and approving business security requirements and policies for information technology, and contributing to the process of preparing and filing financial regulatory reports.

What Are The Steps To Getting A Series 99 License?

As of October 1, 2018, getting your Series 99 license requires passing the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Examination as well as a revised Series 99 exam, called a top-off exam. The SIE exam tests common topics such as fundamentals, regulatory agencies and their functions, product knowledge, and acceptable and unacceptable practices.

Once you have passed your SIE exam, you will need to secure a sponsorship to take the Series 99 exam. Candidates must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm or other applicable self-regulatory organization (SRO) member firm to be eligible to take the exam.

Can I Take The Series 99 Exam Without A Sponsor?

You can take the SIE exam without a sponsor but you must be sponsored in order to sit for the Series 99 top-off exam portion.

What Is On The Series 99 Exam?

The FINRA Series 99 Licensing exam tests your knowledge about debt for equity offerings through a private placement or public offering, advising or facilitating mergers or acquisitions, tender offers, financial restructurings, asset sales, divestitures, or other corporate reorganizations or business combination transactions.

The Series 99 is one of FINRA's shorter exams at only 50 multiple-choice questions. Students have 90 minutes to complete the exam and the minimum passing score is a 68%.

The Series 99 exam covers the two main job functions of an Operations Professional: Knowledge Associated with the Securities Industry and Broker-dealer Operations and Professional Conduct & Ethical Considerations.

Recommended FINRA Series 99 Training Courses & Exam Prep Materials

To find training courses and exam prep materials for earning your FINRA Series 99 license, simply click on any of the recommended courses below, or search under "Licensing" in the search box thereafter for "Series 99". Good luck earning your license!