The Uniform Securities State Law Examination is a North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) exam administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
The exam covers the principles of state securities regulation reflected in the Uniform Securities Act. The exam is intended to provide a basis for state securities administrators to determine an applicant’s knowledge and understanding of state law and regulations.
The Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination was developed by NASAA (North American Securities Administrators Association) in cooperation with representatives of the securities industry and industry associations. The examination, called the Series 63 exam, is designed to qualify candidates as securities agents. The examination covers the principles of state securities regulation reflected in the Uniform Securities Act (with the amendments adopted by NASAA and rules prohibiting dishonest and unethical business practices). The examination is intended to provide a basis for state securities administrators to determine an applicant’s knowledge and understanding of state law and regulations.*
The Breakdown of the Exam
The Series 63 is a “criterion based” minimum competency examination. This exam is administered to professionals within the industry. Criterion based means that a minimum passing criterion is established. Those candidates who pass the exam aree considered to have met the minimum competency level and those who fail do not meet the minimum competency level. The items for the exam were drafted to clearly differentiate those candidates who qualify as minimally competent from those who do not.
The Series 63 is assembled by FINRA using a process called “on the fly.” Each question in the pool has two parameters that are used as part of the assembly, a difficult parameter and a content parameter. Each exam is assembled to meet the exam specifications for content and to have the same difficulty level as all other exams in the same Series.
NASAA or one of its committees has approved the questions in the examination, the weighing of the composite examination, the study guide, and the method by which the examination is administered. In addition, each examination is statistically analyzed to insure reliability.