The broadest representative-level license — and the second rung of a ladder that starts with the SIE.
By PrepScore · Updated · How we research and update content
The Series 7 is FINRA's General Securities Representative Qualification Examination: 125 scored questions across the four job functions of a general securities representative. You must be sponsored by a FINRA member firm to sit it, and the SIE is a corequisite — registration requires passing both. Passing qualifies you to sell essentially the full range of securities products, from stocks and bonds to options, mutual funds and municipal securities.
| Job function | Items |
|---|---|
| F1 — Seeks business for the broker-dealer | 9 |
| F2 — Opens accounts; evaluates financial profile and objectives | 11 |
| F3 — Provides information, makes recommendations, maintains records | 91 |
| F4 — Obtains and verifies instructions; processes transactions | 14 |
| Total scored items | 125 |
The distribution is the study plan: F3 is 91 of 125 items — products, suitability and recommendations are nearly three quarters of the exam. FINRA's page does not publish a duration or a passing score, and numbers you see quoted elsewhere for those are not from the current official page.
A Series 7 obtained on or after November 7, 2011 qualifies you to buy and sell municipal securities with customers — but structuring municipal underwritings needs the Series 52. Older Series 7 registrations grandfather the wider scope.
The Series 6 covers mutual funds and variable contracts only; the Series 7 covers essentially everything a representative can sell. Firms that only place packaged products sponsor the 6; broker-dealers with full product shelves sponsor the 7. The comparison is set out in Series 6 vs Series 7, and where state law exams fit in what is the Series 66.
Whichever top-off you end up needing, the SIE comes first — and it is the one exam you can prepare for before any firm hires you.
125 scored questions, distributed across four job functions — 9, 11, 91 and 14 items. FINRA's page does not publish a duration or passing score.
Yes. Candidates must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm (or other SRO member). The SIE, by contrast, needs no sponsor.
The SIE is a corequisite: the General Securities registration requires passing both. The usual order is SIE first, because it can be taken without a firm.
Essentially the full range: corporate securities, municipal securities and municipal fund securities, options, direct participation programs, investment company products and variable contracts.