Under Rule 506(b) of Regulation D, an issuer may sell to:

Unlimited accredited investors and up to 35 non-accredited but sophisticated investors, without general solicitation

Unlimited investors of any type, using general solicitation

Only accredited investors, using general solicitation with verification

Up to 35 accredited investors and unlimited non-accredited investors

Which economic indicator is generally classified as a LEADING indicator?

Building permits for new private housing

Average duration of unemployment

Commercial and industrial loans outstanding

When a company's common stock rises well above the conversion price of its convertible preferred, the convertible preferred's market price will tend to:

Rise along with the value of the common it converts into

Stay near par because the dividend is fixed

Fall because conversion becomes less likely

Relative to a company's common stock and bonds, where does preferred stock stand?

Ahead of common stock but behind bonds for dividends and liquidation

Ahead of bonds but behind common stock

Ahead of both common stock and bonds

Behind both common stock and bonds

An investor owns 400 shares trading at $3. The company executes a 1-for-4 reverse split. After the split, the investor owns:

100 shares at approximately $12

1,600 shares at approximately $0.75

400 shares at approximately $12

Which statement about Treasury STRIPS is TRUE?

They are zero-coupon securities, so investors holding to maturity face no reinvestment risk

They pay semiannual interest at a floating rate

They are sold directly by the Treasury at auction as zero-coupon bonds

They are backed by pools of home mortgages

SIE Pass Rate and Passing Score

To pass the SIE you need scaled score of 70. FINRA does not currently publish pass rates; its last figures date from 2019.

Updated 2026-09-23 · 6 sources · By the SeriesPrepKit team

Passing score

scaled

Official pass rate

Not published

last FINRA data: 2019

Scored questions

Time

1 hr 45 min

What is officially published

FINRA does not currently publish SIE pass rates. The only figures it has released came in 2019, shortly after the SIE launched on October 1, 2018:

Period	Administrations	Pass rate
Oct 1, 2018 - Jan 31, 2019	16,195	74%
Through Mar 31, 2019	29,181	74%
Through end of Apr 2019	n/a	about 72%

These numbers were shared by FINRA at 2019 industry events and reported by Knopman Marks (see sources). They are seven years old, cover the exam’s first months, and predate the fee change and later outline revisions, so treat them as history, not a forecast. FINRA has not published updated SIE pass rates since.

How the passing score works

The SIE passing score is a scaled score of 70. FINRA places every candidate’s result on a common scale through equating, which adjusts for small differences in difficulty between exam forms. That means “70” is not “70% of questions right,” and FINRA does not publish the raw number of correct answers needed.

What makes it hard

Products and Their Risks is 44% of the SIE. Candidates who skim options and packaged products (loads, breakpoints, share classes) usually feel it there.

Once our practice-test data is large enough, we will publish anonymized section-level miss rates here, labeled as our own data.

If you fail: retake rules

Current FINRA rule: wait 30 days after a first or second failed attempt, and 180 days after three failures in a row. Coming change: FINRA filed SR-FINRA-2026-014 (June 29, 2026) to cut those waits to 15 days and 60 days; FINRA says the new periods take effect on a date it will announce in a future Regulatory Notice. As of 2026-09-23 we found no implementation notice, so plan on 30/180.

Check your readiness: 10 free SIE questions

SIE practice questions

Which entity sets the initial margin requirement that limits how much credit broker-dealers may extend to customers to purchase securities?

Get the full SIE bank

Outline-weighted original questions with explanations, section drills and timed full-length exams. $79 one-time, 12 months, free access extension until you pass.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the SIE pass rate?

There is no current official figure. FINRA last released SIE data in 2019 (74%% for the first four months).

What is the SIE passing score?

A scaled score of 70.

How hard is the SIE?

Products and Their Risks is 44% of the SIE. Candidates who skim options and packaged products (loads, breakpoints, share classes) usually feel it there.

How soon can I retake the SIE?

30 days after a first or second failure; 180 days after a third consecutive failure under current rules. FINRA has filed to shorten these to 15 and 60 days on a date still to be announced.

Sources

FINRA - Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam (accessed 2026-09-23)
FINRA - SIE Content Outline (2025) (accessed 2026-09-23)
Knopman Marks - FINRA SIE and top-off exam statistics (Apr 2019, reporting FINRA data) (accessed 2026-09-23) - Third-party report of figures FINRA shared in 2019; dated.
Knopman Marks - FINRA 2019 Annual Conference exam statistics (May 2019) (accessed 2026-09-23) - Third-party report of figures FINRA shared in 2019; dated.
FINRA - Reduces Waiting Periods for Retaking Qualification Exams (SR-FINRA-2026-014) (accessed 2026-09-23)
FINRA - SIE Exam and Exam Restructuring FAQ (accessed 2026-09-23)