FINRA Series 10Exam information
Exam information
What it is, what's tested, and how it's scored.
Series 10 exam details
The Series 9 and Series 10 exams together make up the General Securities Sales Supervisor Qualification Examinations. Successfully passing both grants the General Securities Sales Supervisor registration, which authorizes you to oversee the work of other registered representatives, most commonly those holding the Series 7 license.
These exams focus on the responsibilities of a supervisory role in ensuring legal and regulatory compliance across all permitted activities. This includes overseeing customer account opening and maintenance, supervising sales practices and training personnel, monitoring trading and options activity, and ensuring accurate and compliant recordkeeping.
The Series 10 exam centers on supervisory duties, including managing personnel, overseeing customer accounts, supervising sales practices and trading activity, and reviewing public communications. It is longer and broader in scope than the Series 9, which primarily focuses on options-related supervision. For this reason, many candidates opt to take the Series 10 before completing the Series 9, though you are allowed to take either exam in any order.
The Series 10 exam is hosted by FINRA and costs $235 to register. Participants have 4 hours to answer 145 scored multiple-choice questions (155 total including 10 unscored). The passing score is 70%.
Eligibility and sponsorship
The Series 10 exam has two prerequisites: you must have an active FINRA Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) license and a General Securities Representative (Series 7) license in good standing. Additionally, to earn your General Securities Sales Supervisor registration, you must pass the Series 9 exam, which is part of a FINRA exam pair. You do not need to pass the Series 9 before taking the Series 10, and you may choose to take both on the same day or separately (note that you will need to register for both exams separately). You must pass both exams within a two-year period to qualify for your license.
You must be sponsored by a FINRA member firm in order to register for and take the Series 10 exam. You will need to work with your company's compliance department to fill out and submit a Form U4 in order to register for the exam.
Administration of the exam
The Series 10 exam is administered via computer. A tutorial on how to take the exam is provided before the exam.
Each candidate's exam includes 10 additional, unidentified pretest items that do not contribute toward the candidate's score. The pretest items are randomly distributed throughout the exam. Therefore, each candidate's exam consists of 155 items (145 scored and 10 unscored).
There is no penalty for guessing. Therefore, candidates should attempt to answer all items.
Candidates will be allowed 4 hours to complete the Series 10 exam.
Candidates are not permitted to bring reference materials to their testing session. Severe penalties are imposed on candidates who cheat or attempt to cheat on FINRA-administered exams.
The exam is offered year-round at testing sites around the country, and may be taken at any time.
Scoring of the exam
All candidate test scores are placed on a common scale using a statistical adjustment process known as equating. Equating scores to a common scale accounts for slight variations in difficulty across the different sets of exam items candidates receive. This allows for a fair comparison of scores and ensures that every candidate is held to the same passing standard regardless of which set of exam items they received.
FINRA's Series 10 exam summary
Supervise Associated Persons and Personnel Management Activities
19%
28 questions
Focuses on overseeing personnel and managing associated individuals. Responsibilities include reviewing and approving new hires, maintaining up-to-date registrations and disclosures, administering disciplinary actions, ensuring employees meet requirements, and performing branch office inspections while appropriately delegating supervisory responsibilities.
Supervise the Opening and Maintenance of Customer Accounts
34%
49 questions
Covers reviewing new account documentation to assess client suitability, supervising customer account activity, evaluating margin accounts and related requirements, and ensuring the ongoing administrative maintenance of customer accounts.
Supervise Sales Practices and General Trading Activities
36%
52 questions
Evaluates knowledge of supervising sales practices and trading operations. Core topics include recognizing and resolving customer complaints, managing trade error corrections, conducting daily reviews of trading activity, supervising employee trading, and ensuring all product sales meet applicable regulatory requirements.
Supervise Communications with the Public
11%
16 questions
Addresses supervising communications with the public. Topics include compliance with telemarketing regulations, oversight of retail communications, adherence to content standards, review and approval of incoming and outgoing correspondence as required, and monitoring institutional communications.
Achievable Series 10 content outline
1
Supervision
Covers supervisory responsibilities over personnel and firm activities, including ethical standards, prohibited practices, recordkeeping, and enforcement actions to ensure regulatory compliance.
2
Registration
Explains registration requirements for individuals, firms, and securities, including registration categories, regulatory oversight, and compliance obligations.
3
Client issues
Focuses on customer communications, account types, order handling, confirmations, and supervisory responsibilities related to customer interactions.
4
Investment products
Reviews basic securities and investment company products, emphasizing supervisory considerations, risks, and suitability standards.
5
Margin accounts
Covers the operation of margin accounts, margin calculations, suitability considerations, and supervisory requirements related to leveraged trading.
6
Federal laws and regulations
Examines key federal securities laws, agency rules and regulations, and the codes governing disciplinary procedures and arbitration.