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SIE Customer Account Registrations

Account registrations tests who may act on an account. Individual, joint tenants with right of survivorship, tenants in common, custodial, trust and corporate accounts each carry different authority and different consequences on death — and any owner of a joint account may trade, but proceeds must be payable to all.

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Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities · 31%122 questions0% hard
31%of the exam is Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities, the section this topic sits in.
122questions on this topic in the PrepScore bank.
37%are understand-level questions — the dominant cognitive demand here.
7are EXCEPT / NOT items, where the answer is the odd one out.
What the SIE asks

What you actually need to know

  • JTWROS versus tenants in common, and what happens to the account on death.
  • Who may enter an order on a joint account, and to whom a cheque may be made out.
  • UGMA and UTMA custodial accounts: one custodian, one minor, irrevocable gifts.
  • Third-party trading authority, and what a full versus limited power of attorney permits.
How this topic behaves

What 122 questions on it look like

Not one question in this topic is rated hard, and 14% are easy. This is a topic to bank marks in, not to agonise over.

sequence48%
scenario30%
comparison14%
concept9%

Question-type mix across the 122 questions in this topic.

From the bank

Three real customer account registrations questions

With the explanation — which is the part that teaches.

scenario · medium · understand

In a joint brokerage account with two owners, one owner phones in a sell order and later requests that the proceeds be sent out by check. How should the firm generally handle the order and the check?

  1. AEither owner may enter the order, and the check may be made payable to whichever owner requests it
  2. BBoth owners must jointly authorize the order, and the check must be payable to all owners
  3. CEither owner may enter the order, but the check must be made payable to all owners on the accountcorrect
  4. DBoth owners must jointly authorize the order, but the check may be made out to only the requesting owner
Why C is correct

In a joint account any single owner may place trades on behalf of the account, but distributions such as checks must be drawn payable to all owners named on the account, protecting each owner's interest.

comparison · medium · understand

Which difference best distinguishes joint tenants with rights of survivorship from tenants in common?

  1. AJTWROS passes a deceased owner's interest to surviving owners; TIC allows a deceased owner's interest to pass through the estatecorrect
  2. BJTWROS is a margin feature; TIC is an options approval level
  3. CJTWROS applies only to corporate accounts; TIC applies only to trust accounts
  4. DJTWROS settles trades on T+1; TIC settles all trades on trade date
Why A is correct

Joint tenants with rights of survivorship generally transfer a deceased owner's interest to the surviving owners. Tenants in common allows the deceased owner's interest to pass through the estate.

sequence · medium · recall

In the account-opening workflow for a UTMA account, which statement best describes control before the minor reaches the applicable termination age?

  1. AThe broker-dealer's transfer agent becomes the beneficial owner of the assets
  2. BA parent who is not named custodian controls trades solely because the beneficiary is a minor
  3. CThe named custodian manages the account for the minor, who remains the beneficial ownercorrect
  4. DThe minor has the same trading authority as an adult joint tenant before the termination age
Why C is correct

Before the applicable UTMA termination age, the named custodian controls the account for the minor's benefit, while the minor is the beneficial owner of the assets.

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FAQ

Customer Account Registrations questions

Can one owner of a joint account place a trade?

Yes — any owner may enter an order. But a distribution must be payable to all owners, not to the one who called.

What happens to a JTWROS account when an owner dies?

The assets pass to the surviving owner or owners, outside the deceased owner’s estate.

Who owns the assets in an UTMA account?

The minor. The custodian controls the account but the gift is irrevocable and the property belongs to the minor.
Last reviewed 2026-08-28. Exam facts sourced to FINRA’s SIE exam page and the FINRA SIE content outline. Question counts describe the PrepScore bank, not the exam.
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Practise customer account registrations until the rule is automatic.

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