what is series 9 10 
series 9 10 refers to a two part securities exam and license entitling the holder to supervise sales activities at a general securities oriented branch office before taking the series 9 10 exams also known as the general securities sales supervisor qualification exams a candidate must have a series 7 license 1the series 9 10 covers topics such as the supervision of options and general securities sales and trading practices in primary and secondary markets the series 9 10 exams are administered by the financial industry regulatory authority finra and were formerly known as the series 8 exam as the name would suggest the exam is broken into two parts the series 9 is the shorter and covers options sales and trading as well as regulation and administration series 10 represents a deeper dive into a similar but broader range of topics and requirements 1series 9 10 permitted activitiesthe series 9 10 is designed to protect the investing public by measuring the competency of general securities sales supervisors and ensuring their expertise in the following areas sale of corporate securities rights warrants closed end funds money market funds reits asset backed securities mortgage backed securities corporate equity options options on corporate backed securities mutual funds variable annuities and variable life insurance government securities repos and certificates of accrual on government securities direct participation programs 2series 9 10 eligibilityseries 9 10 candidates must be registered with a finra member firm or other self regulatory organization and must already have passed the series 7 general securities representative test 1series 9 10 test contentthe series 9 10 exam consists of 215 multiple choice questions in four major content areas 60 questions for the series 9 and 145 questions for the series 10 this total includes 15 unscored questions randomly placed in each part five in the series 9 and 10 in the series 10 candidates are allocated 90 minutes to finish the series 9 and four hours to complete the series 10 there is no penalty for guessing so candidates should endeavor to answer every question the test is administered via computer and a score of 70 is required to pass for more on the exam see finra s content outline for the series 9 10 3questions are frequently changed or updated based on the introduction of new rules and amendments below are the job functions the exam tests for as well as the number of scored questions covering that function series 10 part 1 series 9 part 2 series 9 10 exam sample questionsbelow are samples finra has provided of the questions types formats and the subject matter a series 9 10 test taker is likely to encounter the correct answers are noted with an asterisk example 1 which of the following items is considered retail communication a electronic communication distributed to institutional investors on a daily basis b social media communication with institutional investors on a daily basis c written communication distributed to 10 retail investors within a 30 day period d written communication distributed to more than 25 retail investors within a 30 day period 4example 2 a qualified person must inspect an office of supervisory jurisdiction osj at least a quarterly b annually c every two years d every three years4example 3 listed equity options would not be adjusted for which of the following actions in the underlying security a a 2 for 1 stock split b a 1 for 5 reverse stock split c a stock dividend of 5 d a cash dividend of 0 50 4the difference between series 9 10 and series 24both series 9 10 and 24 are the exams that must be completed by a principal before they can undertake certain sales activities according to the financial industry regulatory authority finra a principal who has completed the series 24 examination is qualified to supervise the following sales activities corporate securities rights warrants closed end funds money market funds reits asset backed securities corporate mortgage backed securities mutual funds variable annuities and variable life insurance direct participation programs securities traders venture capital mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing 1finra indicates that a principal who has completed the series 24 exam is also qualified to supervise in addition to sales the overall investment banking and securities business of a member firm completion of the series 9 10 examination which covers more terrain qualifies a principal excluding securities traders and those involved in venture capital mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing to supervise sales in all of the above as well as the following equity options options on corporate mortgage backed securities government securities repos and certificates of accrual on government securities municipal securities and municipal fund securities 1