General Securities Principal Exam

The general securities principal exam, commonly referred to as the Series 24 exam, is administered by the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) which qualifies a registered individual to supervise or manage branch activities such as corporate securities, REITs, variable contracts, and venture capital; a general principal may also approve advertising and sales literature, including communications regarding municipal securities. The exam covers topics such as supervision of investment banking, trading, customer accounts, and the primary/secondary markets.

A Series 24 license does not qualify an individual to function as a:

• Registered options principal – Series 4
• General securities sales supervisor for options and municipal securities – Series 9
• Municipal securities principal – Series 53
• Municipal fund securities principal – Series 51
• Financial and operations principal – Series 27
• Introducing broker/dealer financial and operations principal – Series 28

The Series 24 Exam is made up of 150 questions. Candidates have up to 3.5 hours to take the exam. 70% (105 correct answers) is considered a passing grade. In order to take the Series 24 exam, a candidate must be sponsored by a member firm of FINRA or another SRO (self-regulatory organization).

Test breakdown	Number of questions	% of exam
Supervision of investment banking activities	33	22%
Supervision of trading and market making activities	31	21%
Supervision of brokerage office operations	29	19%
Sales supervision; general supervision of employees; regulatory framework of FINRA	43	29%
Compliance with financial responsibility rules	14	9%

See also

• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
• List of securities examinations
• Series 7
• Series 63