This week is FINRA’s annual conference, and from the Knopman Marks perspective we are most excited to share an update on the status of the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam. For those of you unfamiliar with the exam please review our previous articles here.
Since the SIE rule filing many firms and trade groups submitted comments to the SEC. Feedback on the exam restructuring has been overwhelmingly positive – firms believe the pool of potential job candidates will increase and welcome a more streamline and efficient approach to the qualification process. One area of concern was the exam’s proposed March 2018 launch date, which some firms suggested was too aggressive given previously allocated budgets and other operational changes required to adapt to the new licensing regime.
Today, FINRA’s testing and qualifications team hosted a session and gave the following update:
- FINRA still hopes to release the exam in March 2018. However, given the comments requesting additional time, FINRA is conducting additional diligence to see if a delay until fall 2018 is warranted.
- FINRA will release final content outlines and exam specifications sometime this summer.
- FINRA will not provide a numerical score to candidates who pass the exam. Candidates who fail the exam will receive a score report along with a breakdown by topic area.
FINRA and the SEC are continuing to review the comments to the rule filing. FINRA has extended the time for SEC action until July 2017 and we expect to receive more information in the coming months. We will continue to post any updates here so subscribe to stay up-to-date and fully informed on all things SIE.
