A firm makes the same written message available to 40 retail investors within 30 calendar days. How does FINRA Rule 2210 classify it?Answer: Retail communication. Source: FINRA Rule 2210, Communications with the Public, paragraph (a)(5). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 1.1, communications with customers (types of communications).
Before bidding for or selling municipal securities in a primary offering, what must a participating underwriter obtain and review?Answer: An official statement the issuer deems final. Source: SEC Rule 15c2-12, 17 CFR 240.15c2-12, paragraph (b)(1). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 1.2, describing products and offerings (official statements for municipal securities).
Which condition applies to a company that sells securities under Rule 506(b) of Regulation D?Answer: It cannot use general solicitation or advertising. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Rule 506 of Regulation D. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 1.2, describing products and offerings (Regulation D offerings).
Who must approve a firm's retail communication about options before it is used?Answer: A Registered Options Principal. Source: FINRA Rule 2220, Options Communications, paragraph (b)(1). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 1.1, communications with customers (options-related communications).
Show all 52 questions (48 more)
Opening accounts and customer profiles 5
A customer orders 200 shares of a named stock and leaves the time and price to the representative. With no signed instruction to the contrary, how long does that discretion last?Answer: Until the end of that business day. Source: FINRA Rule 3260, Discretionary Accounts, paragraph (d). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 2.2, customer information and documentation (discretionary account documents).
After a customer's account is approved for options trading, by when must the firm obtain the customer's written options agreement?Answer: Within 15 days. Source: FINRA Rule 2360, Options, paragraph (b)(16)(D). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 2.1, account types and disclosures (opening options accounts).
Each trade a representative recommends looks suitable alone, but together the trades are excessive for the customer. Which suitability obligation is breached?Answer: Quantitative suitability. Source: FINRA Rule 2111, Suitability, Supplementary Material .05(c). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 2.3, customer investment profile (quantitative care obligations).
How old must the trusted contact person named on a customer's account be?Answer: 18 or older. Source: FINRA Rule 4512, Customer Account Information, paragraph (a)(1)(F). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 2.2, customer information and documentation (customer screening).
Which is one of the four component obligations of Regulation Best Interest?Answer: The care obligation. Source: SEC Regulation Best Interest, 17 CFR 240.15l-1, paragraph (a)(2). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 2.3, customer investment profile (care obligations).
Products, recommendations and records 37
A $1,000 bond may be converted into common stock at $40 of face value per share. How many shares does the holder receive on conversion?Answer: 25. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Convertible Securities. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (debt securities: convertible bonds).
A bond pays $60 of interest per year and has a current market price of $800. What is its current yield?Answer: 7.5%. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Current Yield. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (debt securities: yield).
A bond's coupon rate is higher than current market interest rates. How will the bond most likely trade?Answer: At a premium to face value. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, What Are Corporate Bonds?. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (debt securities: price and yield).
A call has a strike price of 60 and the underlying stock trades at $52. How is the call described?Answer: Out-of-the-money by $8. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, Basic Options Terminology. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: in-the-money and out-of-the-money).
A company defaults. Which of its debenture holders have the higher priority claim on its assets and cash flows?Answer: Holders of senior debentures. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, What Are Corporate Bonds?. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (debt securities: secured and unsecured).
A customer asks a representative to promise to make up any loss in the account. What does FINRA Rule 2150 say?Answer: No member or associated person may guarantee a customer against loss. Source: FINRA Rule 2150, Improper Use of Customers' Securities or Funds, paragraph (b). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.3, required disclosures (prohibited practices).
A dealer makes a political contribution, outside the rule's exceptions, to an official of a municipal issuer who can influence dealer selection. For how long is the dealer barred from municipal securities business with that issuer?Answer: Two years. Source: MSRB Rule G-37, paragraph (b)(i). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities).
A municipal finance professional may contribute to an official for whom he or she is entitled to vote without triggering the ban of MSRB Rule G-37, up to what amount?Answer: $250 per election. Source: MSRB Rule G-37, paragraph (b)(ii)(A). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities).
A Treasury note with 5 years remaining to maturity pays interest every six months. If it is stripped, how many separate securities result?Answer: 11. Source: TreasuryDirect, STRIPS. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (government securities).
According to the SEC's options bulletin, which party to an option contract can be exposed to unlimited potential losses?Answer: The writer of certain option contracts. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, risks of trading options. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: uncovered writing).
An affiliate of a reporting company sells its stock under Rule 144. When must a notice on Form 144 be filed with the SEC?Answer: When sales in any three months exceed 5,000 shares or $50,000. Source: SEC rules under the Securities Act of 1933, 17 CFR Part 230, 17 CFR 230.144(h). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (equity securities: Rule 144).
An investor buys one ABC June 40 put at a premium of 2.50. Before commissions, at what stock price does the investor break even at expiration?Answer: $37.50. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, Put Option example. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: long puts).
An investor buys one call at a premium of 1.80 and later sells the same call to close at 5.30. What is the gain, before commissions?Answer: $350. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, Closing a Position. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: closing transactions).
An investor buys one XYZ March 50 call at a premium of 3. Before commissions, at what stock price does the investor break even at expiration?Answer: $53. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, Call Option example. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: long calls).
An investor buys two calls at a premium of 4.25 each, and both expire out-of-the-money. What is the loss, before commissions?Answer: $850. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, risks of trading options. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: long calls).
An investor sells stock at a loss. Buying substantially identical securities within what period makes the sale a wash sale?Answer: Within 30 days before or after the sale. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Wash Sales. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (tax treatment: wash sales).
Before recommending a direct participation program, what must a member have reasonable grounds to believe about the participant's net worth?Answer: It is enough to bear the risks, among them losing the investment and being unable to sell. Source: FINRA Rule 2310, Direct Participation Programs, paragraph (b)(2)(B). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (direct participation programs).
Besides the federal exemption, when may the interest on a municipal bond also be exempt from state and local taxes?Answer: If the investor resides in the state where the bond is issued. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Municipal Bonds. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities: tax treatment).
By when must a member give or send a customer the written confirmation of a securities transaction?Answer: When the transaction is completed, or before. Source: FINRA Rule 2232, Customer Confirmations, paragraph (a). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.4, account information and records (customer confirmations).
For a dealer that is a FINRA member, MSRB Rule G-20 limits gifts given in connection with the municipal securities work of the recipient's employer to what amount per year?Answer: $300. Source: MSRB Rule G-20, paragraph (c), in the version that applies from June 1, 2026 to dealers who are FINRA members. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities).
For how long after a customer's account is closed must a broker-dealer keep the records on the terms and conditions of opening and maintaining it?Answer: Six years. Source: SEC Rule 17a-4, 17 CFR 240.17a-4, paragraph (c). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.4, account information and records (books and records retention).
How are restricted securities typically marked?Answer: With a legend saying they may not be resold publicly unless the sale is exempt. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Restricted Securities. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (equity securities: restricted securities).
How do brokerage firms generally treat margin for options trading?Answer: A margin account is required, but margin may not be used to purchase options. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Understanding Margin Accounts, Options Trading Using Margin. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: margin).
How do shareholders of an interval fund typically sell their shares?Answer: Through the fund's periodic repurchase offers, at a price based on net asset value. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Interval Fund. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (packaged products).
How does FINRA describe its "5% Policy" on mark-ups?Answer: As a guide, not a rule. Source: FINRA Rule 2121, Fair Prices and Commissions, Supplementary Material .01. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.3, required disclosures (markups and commissions).
How is the income from Treasury securities taxed?Answer: It may be exempt from state and local taxes, but not from federal taxes. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Treasury Securities. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (government securities: tax treatment).
Once a transfer instruction has been validated, how long does the carrying firm have to complete the transfer of the customer's account assets?Answer: Three business days. Source: FINRA Rule 11870, Customer Account Transfer Contracts, paragraph (e). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.4, account information and records (customer account transfers).
Some revenue bonds are non-recourse. What does that mean for bondholders?Answer: If the revenue stream dries up, they have no claim on the underlying revenue source. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Municipal Bonds. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities: revenue bonds).
Taxable equivalent yield is the tax-exempt yield divided by (1 minus the tax rate). A municipal bond yields 3.00% and the investor is in a 25% federal bracket. What is the taxable equivalent yield?Answer: 4.00%. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Municipal Bonds. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (municipal securities: taxable equivalent yield).
Unless the trade is exempt, what must a broker-dealer do before it sells a penny stock to a customer under SEC Rule 15g-9?Answer: Approve the account for penny stocks and receive the customer's agreement to the trade. Source: SEC Rule 15g-9, 17 CFR 240.15g-9, paragraph (a)(2). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.3, required disclosures (penny stock disclosures).
What does a money market fund invest in?Answer: Liquid, short-term debt securities, cash and cash equivalents. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Money Market Fund. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (packaged products).
What does the SEC's bulletin say about the liquidity of a non-traded REIT?Answer: It is illiquid and cannot be sold readily in the market. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Non-traded REITs. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (real estate investment trusts).
What is the seller of an option contract also called?Answer: The writer. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, An Introduction to Options, Basic Options Terminology. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: listed options and their characteristics).
What sets a Treasury Inflation-Protected Security apart from other Treasury securities?Answer: Its principal can go up or down over its term. Source: TreasuryDirect, TIPS. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (government securities).
When must a dealer disclose to a customer all material information about a municipal security that is known or publicly available?Answer: When the trade is made, or before. Source: MSRB Rule G-47. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.3, required disclosures (disclosures on municipal transactions).
Which practice do many hedge funds use that mutual funds do not often use?Answer: Leverage and short-selling. Source: Investor.gov (SEC) glossary, Hedge Funds. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (hedge funds).
Within how many days after an options account is approved must the customer's background and financial information be sent to the customer for verification?Answer: 15 days. Source: FINRA Rule 2360, Options, paragraph (b)(16)(C). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 3.2, products and recommendations (options: account records).
Orders, margin and complaints 6
A customer is short 200 shares of a stock now selling at $40 per share. What is FINRA's minimum maintenance margin on the short position?Answer: $2,400. Source: FINRA Rule 4210, Margin Requirements, paragraph (c)(3). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.4, margin issues.
A margin account holds long margin securities with a current market value of $20,000 and a debit balance of $9,000. What is FINRA's minimum maintenance margin for the account?Answer: $5,000. Source: FINRA Rule 4210, Margin Requirements, paragraph (c)(1). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.4, margin issues.
Before accepting a short sale order in an equity security, what must a broker-dealer have done under Regulation SHO?Answer: Borrowed the security, arranged to borrow it, or had reasonable grounds to believe it can be borrowed. Source: SEC Regulation SHO, 17 CFR 242.203, paragraph (b)(1). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.1, quotes and orders (short sales).
For how long must a member preserve its records of written customer complaints?Answer: At least four years. Source: FINRA Rule 4513, Records of Written Customer Complaints, paragraph (a). Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.3, errors and complaints (customer complaints).
How does Regulation T define the payment period for a purchase?Answer: The standard settlement cycle plus two business days. Source: Federal Reserve Regulation T, 12 CFR Part 220, 12 CFR 220.2. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.4, margin issues.
Which order must be executed immediately in its entirety, or else be canceled as a whole?Answer: Fill-or-kill. Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Understanding Order Types. Outline: FINRA Series 7 Content Outline (2025), Function 4.1, quotes and orders (orders).
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the four major job functions of the General Securities Representative Qualification Examination (Series 7) Content Outline that FINRA publishes (https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Series_7_Content_Outline.pdf, read 2026-10-09): Function 1, seeks business for the broker-dealer, 9 of 125 scored items (7%); Function 2, opens accounts, 11 (9%); Function 3, provides information about investments, makes recommendations, transfers assets and maintains records, 91 (73%); Function 4, obtains and verifies instructions and processes transactions, 14 (11%). The bank holds 4, 5, 37 and 6. Every fact was read on 2026-10-09 in the public text the question names: FINRA rules on finra.org, SEC rules and Regulation T on ecfr.gov (17 CFR Parts 230, 240 and 242, 12 CFR Part 220), MSRB rules on msrb.org, the SEC's Investor.gov glossary and investor bulletins, and TreasuryDirect. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This Series 7 study guide is a practice test: 52 questions of our own on the four job functions in FINRA's content outline, each with its source. Unofficial: not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by FINRA. Not investment advice.
Read the full guide
Four functions, in FINRA's shares
FINRA's outline gives 125 scored questions: 9 on seeking business, 11 on opening accounts, 91 on information, recommendations and records, and 14 on instructions and processing transactions. This bank holds 4, 5, 37 and 6, close to those shares.
Worked numbers
Eleven questions are arithmetic: option break-even, loss and gain, maintenance margin on long and short positions, current yield, taxable equivalent yield and conversion. Each explanation shows the sum.
A timed run
Exam mode is a short Series 7 mock exam: 50 questions with 90 minutes on the clock, the real pace of 125 in three hours and 45 minutes.
Start with options: a long call breaks even at the strike price plus the premium, a long put at the strike price minus the premium.
Questions and answers
Is there a free Series 7 study guide?
FINRA publishes the Series 7 Content Outline as a free PDF. It lists each job function, the knowledge required and the rules behind it. Every answer here names its place in that outline and the rule to read.
Is there a Series 7 sample exam from FINRA?
FINRA's Series 7 page links a practice test for the SIE only, beside the content outline. This Series 7 exam practice test is our own work, and no question comes from the real exam.
How many questions are on the Series 7 exam?
130 in three hours and 45 minutes. Of those, 125 are scored and 5 are unidentified pretest questions that do not count. Every question has four answer choices, and a wrong guess costs nothing.
What is the passing score for the Series 7 test?
FINRA gives it as 72. Because scores are equated to a common scale, that 72 is not a simple count of right answers and is the same standard on every form of the exam.
Who can take the Series 7?
Someone who works with a FINRA member firm, or a member firm of another self-regulatory organization, and has that firm's sponsorship. It is the exam a stockbroker sits: FINRA lists the SIE as the corequisite and the cost as $395.