FINRA SIE

The heaviest section by far: 33 of the 75 scored questions on the products themselves — equity and debt securities, mutual funds and other packaged products, options — and the specific risks each one carries. If you master one section, make it this one.

23 of the 75 scored questions on how trades and accounts actually work: order types and trade capacity, settlement, cash and margin accounts, account registrations and retirement accounts, the prohibited activities FINRA polices hardest, and the compliance rules — AML, SIPC, Regulation BI — that protect customers.

12 of the 75 scored questions cover how the markets themselves work: the regulators (SEC, FINRA and the other SROs), market structure and participants, how new securities are brought to market, and the economic forces — monetary and fiscal policy, the business cycle, interest rates — that move prices.

The shortest section: 7 of the 75 scored questions on the legal backbone of the industry — the Securities Act of 1933 and Exchange Act of 1934, registration and reporting on Forms U4 and U5, statutory disqualification, continuing education, and the employee-conduct rules on outside activities and gifts.