.png)
The Series 9 and Series 10 are the General Securities Sales Supervisor Examinations, two corequisite Financial Industry Regulatory Authority exams that together qualify you to supervise sales activities at a broker-dealer. You must pass both within two years of each other for them to count. They are limited principal exams, which means they authorize sales supervision only. They do not cover underwriting, overall firm compliance, trading desk oversight, or financial operations.
Think of the Series 9 and Series 10 together as the branch manager's license for day-to-day sales oversight.
Together, the Series 9 and Series 10 qualify you to supervise sales activities in corporate securities, investment company products, variable contracts, municipal securities, options, government securities, and direct participation programs. The coverage is broad, spanning the full range of retail securities products typically sold by a branch office.
However, there are important limits. Passing the Series 9 and Series 10 does not make you a Registered Options Principal. That requires the Series 4. It does not make you a Municipal Securities Principal. That requires the Series 53. And it does not qualify you as a general securities principal, which requires the Series 24.
The Series 9 consists of 55 questions and takes one hour and 30 minutes to complete. The exam fee is $130. It focuses on options supervision, including options sales activities, trading practices, and compliance.
The Series 10 consists of 145 questions and takes four hours to complete. The exam fee is $175. It is broader, covering supervision of general securities sales, corporate securities, government securities, direct participation programs, investment company products, and variable contracts, in addition to some overlap with options.
Both exams require a 70% passing score. You must have passed the Securities Industry Essentials exam and the Series 7 General Securities Representative exam before taking either the Series 9 or Series 10.
| Series 9/10 | Series 24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of authority | Sales supervision only | Broader supervisory authority including underwriting, trading, and firm compliance |
| Covers municipal securities | Yes, for sales supervision | No; municipal securities require the Series 53 separately |
| Covers options supervision | Yes, for sales supervision | No; options principal authority requires the Series 4 separately |
| Common use case | Branch managers overseeing retail sales offices | Compliance officers, managing principals, home office supervisors |
The Series 24 covers a broader supervisory scope than the Series 9/10 but is limited to corporate securities, REITs, variable contracts, and direct participation programs. It does not cover municipal securities or options. Many firms require principals to hold both the Series 24 and the Series 9/10 to cover all their supervisory responsibilities.
Sources:
With deep roots in traditional finance and the digital asset industry, Acquire.Fi operates as a specialist M&A advisory firm. Coverage spans M&A, secondaries, OTC, and capital markets advisory across digital assets and frontier tech. Our team has decades of combined experience across every stage of the deal lifecycle.
.webp)