Series 9/10 Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: D

Conducting brokerage business in an area set apart from the teller windows: Incorrect. Rule 3160(a)(2) requires the broker-dealer's services to be physically separate from routine deposit-taking where practicable, so this is permitted.

Displaying the Ironbridge name clearly so customers can tell it apart from the bank: Incorrect. Rule 3160 requires the member to be clearly identified as the provider of the brokerage services, so this is permitted.

Paying unregistered bank staff a nominal, fixed one-time fee for each referral: Incorrect. The networking exception in Exchange Act Section 3(a)(4)(B)(i)(VI), as defined in Regulation R Rule 700, permits a nominal one-time cash fee of a fixed amount that does not depend on whether a transaction results.

Paying tellers a referral fee equal to a share of referred customers' commissions: Correct. Under the networking exception (Exchange Act Section 3(a)(4)(B)(i)(VI) and Regulation R Rule 700), unregistered bank employees may receive only nominal, one-time fixed referral fees not contingent on a transaction; a share of commissions is transaction-based. Rule 3160 itself only requires the written agreement to set out the compensation arrangements.

Rule 3160 governs the setting, disclosures and written agreement (which must set out compensation); the limit of nominal, fixed, non-transaction-based referral fees for unregistered bank staff comes from the Exchange Act networking exception and Regulation R.

Answer: B

1. 1. FINRA Rule 3220 limit: $300 per person per year.
2. 2. The representative did not attend, so the tickets are a gift, not business entertainment.
3. 3. Tickets are valued at the higher of cost ($200) or face ($140): $200.
4. 4. Gifts so far: $80 + $200 = $280.
5. 5. Remaining: $300 − $280 = $20.

$0: Incorrect. This assumes the superseded $100 limit, which the $280 total already exceeds; the limit has been $300 since March 30, 2026.

$20: Correct. The limit is $300 per person per year. Tickets given without the representative attending are gifts, valued at the higher of cost or face ($200), so $80 + $200 = $280 has been used and $20 remains.

$80: Incorrect. This values the tickets at their $140 face value; tickets are valued at the higher of cost or face.

$220: Incorrect. This treats the tickets as business entertainment, but he did not attend, so they are gifts.

Gifts are aggregated per recipient per year against the $300 limit, and tickets count at the higher of cost or face value.

Answer: C

Hold it for five months once she confirms she got the e-delivery options: Incorrect. Telling her about alternatives and getting her confirmation are required, but a hold over 3 months still needs an acceptable reason, and convenience is not one.

Hold it for five months if she renews the request every month: Incorrect. Prior requests are combined, so monthly renewals would still exceed 3 consecutive months without an acceptable reason.

Hold it up to 3 months and tell her in writing of other ways to get mail: Correct. Rule 3150(a): a hold longer than 3 consecutive months needs an acceptable reason (such as safety, not convenience); the firm must tell her in writing of alternatives such as e-delivery, confirm she received that information and verify her instructions at reasonable intervals.

Hold it for five months but verify her instructions at the 3-month mark: Incorrect. Periodic verification is required, but it does not supply the acceptable reason needed for a hold longer than 3 months.

Rule 3150 allows mail holds on written instructions; holds over 3 consecutive months need a reason other than convenience, and alternatives must be offered.

Answer: B

1. 1. New equity = $50,000 − $16,000 = $34,000.
2. 2. New Reg T requirement = 50% × $50,000 = $25,000.
3. 3. Excess equity = $34,000 − $25,000 = $9,000.
4. 4. SMA = the greater of the existing SMA ($4,000) or the excess equity ($9,000) = $9,000.
5. 5. Check: a $10,000 rise adds 50% × $10,000 = $5,000 of excess; $4,000 + $5,000 = $9,000.

$5,000: Incorrect. This is only the increase in SMA from the rise (50% of $10,000); the existing $4,000 must be added.

$9,000: Correct. After the rise, equity is $50,000 − $16,000 = $34,000 and the Reg T requirement is 50% × $50,000 = $25,000, so excess equity is $9,000. SMA is the greater of the prior SMA ($4,000) or the new excess, so it is $9,000.

$10,000: Incorrect. This credits the whole $10,000 rise to SMA; only the excess over 50% of the new value counts.

$14,000: Incorrect. This uses the old $20,000 Reg T requirement instead of 50% of the new market value.

After a rise, SMA becomes the greater of its prior balance or the new excess equity over the 50% Reg T requirement.

Answer: D

Process the wire once Kerr confirms it by replying to a firm email: Incorrect. If her email account is compromised, a reply to that address goes to the fraudster, so it is not independent verification.

Process the wire once the PDF signature matches the one on file: Incorrect. A scanned signature can be copied from an old document, so a match does not verify the request.

File a SAR before taking any other action on the request: Incorrect. A SAR may follow if fraud is confirmed, but the immediate step is to verify the request with the customer.

Call Kerr at the phone number on file to confirm the request: Correct. An emailed first-time third-party foreign wire is an account-takeover red flag; the firm verifies it with the customer through an independent channel, such as a call to the number of record, before sending funds (Rule 3110; Regulatory Notice 12-05).

Verify email requests for third-party disbursements directly with the customer using contact details already on file before moving money.

Answer: B

1. 1. 1% of outstanding shares: 30,000,000 × 0.01 = 300,000.
2. 2. 4-week total volume: 280,000 + 330,000 + 350,000 + 360,000 = 1,320,000.
3. 3. Average weekly volume: 1,320,000 ÷ 4 = 330,000.
4. 4. The limit is the greater of the two: 330,000 shares in any 3 months.

300,000: Incorrect. This is 1% of the shares outstanding, but the rule allows the greater of that figure or the 4-week average volume.

330,000: Correct. The limit is the greater of 1% of outstanding shares (300,000) or the average weekly volume for the 4 weeks before filing (1,320,000 ÷ 4 = 330,000).

360,000: Incorrect. This uses the single highest week instead of the 4-week average.

1,320,000: Incorrect. This is the total 4-week volume; it must be divided by 4.

Rule 144 volume for listed stock: the greater of 1% of shares outstanding or the average weekly volume over the 4 weeks before filing.

Answer: B

Net worth of $1.2 million, including a home with $500,000 equity: Incorrect. Excluding the primary residence leaves $700,000, below the $1 million net worth test.

A Series 65 holder in good standing with $90,000 of income: Correct. Since the SEC's 2020 amendments, natural persons holding a Series 7, 65 or 82 license in good standing are accredited investors regardless of income or net worth (Rule 501(a)(10)).

Individual income of $180,000 in each of the last two years: Incorrect. The individual income test is $200,000 in each of the last two years with the same expected this year.

Joint income with a spouse of $280,000 in each of the last two years: Incorrect. The joint income test is $300,000 in each of the last two years.

Accredited natural persons: $1 million net worth excluding the primary residence, $200,000 / $300,000 income, or a Series 7, 65 or 82 license in good standing.

Answer: D

Permitted, because the options are a different security from the block: Incorrect. Rule 5270 expressly covers options and other related products, not only the same security.

Permitted, because the trade was for the firm rather than for an employee: Incorrect. The rule applies to the member's own accounts as well as accounts of associated persons.

Prohibited only if the block is executed on the same exchange as the calls: Incorrect. The venue is irrelevant; the issue is trading on non-public knowledge of the imminent block.

Prohibited front running, since related options are also covered: Correct. FINRA Rule 5270 bars trading in a security or a related financial instrument (including options) while in possession of material, non-public information about an imminent block transaction, until the information is publicly available or stale.

Front running under Rule 5270 covers the stock and related options and futures traded ahead of an imminent customer block.

Answer: D

Front running an imminent block: Incorrect. Front running means trading ahead of an imminent block order; nothing shows a pending customer block.

Wash trading to create volume: Incorrect. Wash trades involve matched buys and sells with no change in ownership; these are one-sided purchases.

Free-riding in a cash account: Incorrect. Free-riding is selling before paying for a purchase; the issue here is the timing and price impact of the orders.

Marking the close: Correct. Small purchases entered in the last minutes of each month at prices above the last sale, by an account valued at the closing price, are the classic pattern of marking the close. The supervisor should investigate and escalate under the firm's manipulation procedures (FINRA Rule 2020; SEA Section 9(a)(2)).

Repeated late-day orders that lift the closing price of a thinly traded stock, especially by an account valued at the close, are a marking-the-close red flag.

Answer: C

1. Premium: 3 × 100 = $300.
2. Underlying value: 58 × 100 = $5,800; 20% = $1,160.
3. Out-of-the-money amount: (60 − 58) × 100 = $200.
4. Standard requirement: $300 + $1,160 − $200 = $1,260.
5. Minimum: $300 + 10% × $5,800 = $880. The greater amount, $1,260, applies.

$880: Incorrect. This is the 10% minimum ($300 + $580). The standard calculation of $1,260 is higher, so it applies.

$960: Incorrect. This omits the $300 premium from the requirement.

$1,260: Correct. 100% of the premium ($300) + 20% of the underlying value ($1,160) − the out-of-the-money amount ($200) = $1,260, which exceeds the minimum of $880 (FINRA Rule 4210(f)(2)).

$1,460: Incorrect. This leaves out the $200 out-of-the-money reduction.

Uncovered equity option margin = 100% of premium + 20% of underlying − OTM amount, but not less than premium + 10% of underlying (puts: 10% of the exercise price).

Answer: B

1. Start counting the day after approval: Tuesday, March 3 is business day 1.
2. March 3–6 = business days 1–4.
3. March 9–13 = business days 5–9.
4. Monday, March 16 = business day 10.

Thursday, March 12: Incorrect. This counts 10 calendar days instead of 10 business days.

Monday, March 16: Correct. FINRA Rule 2360(b)(16) requires approval by an ROP or LPGSSS within 10 business days when the branch manager is neither. Ten business days after Monday, March 2 is Monday, March 16.

Tuesday, March 17: Incorrect. This is 15 days after approval, the deadline for the signed options agreement, not for principal approval.

Wednesday, April 1: Incorrect. This counts 30 days, which is not the options approval period.

If the branch manager is not an ROP or LPGSSS, an ROP or LPGSSS must approve the options account within 10 business days.

Answer: B

Permitted, because the customer named the series and the number of contracts: Incorrect. Naming the series and size makes this time-and-price discretion, but that discretion is limited in duration.

Unauthorized: time-and-price discretion ended at Monday's close: Correct. Under FINRA Rule 2360(b)(18), time-and-price discretion is in effect only until the end of the business day it was granted, unless the customer signs a written contrary instruction. A Tuesday execution needed new instructions or written discretionary authority.

Permitted, because time-and-price orders are good for 2 business days: Incorrect. There is no 2-day period; the limit is the end of the business day.

Permitted, if the order ticket was marked discretionary: Incorrect. Marking a ticket discretionary does not create authority that the RR lacked.

Options time-and-price discretion lasts only until the end of the business day it is given, absent a signed written instruction.

Answer: C

1. Aggregate accounts under common control: both accounts count.
2. Bullish side = long calls + short puts = 3,000 + 2,000 = 5,000.
3. Bearish side = short calls + long puts = 4,000 + 1,500 = 5,500.
4. Largest same-side position = 5,500 contracts.

1,000 contracts: Incorrect. This nets long against short calls; position limits are not computed on a net basis.

5,000 contracts: Incorrect. This is the bullish side (long calls + short puts), but the bearish side is larger.

5,500 contracts: Correct. Accounts she controls are aggregated. Bearish side: short 4,000 calls + long 1,500 puts = 5,500; bullish side: long 3,000 calls + short 2,000 puts = 5,000. The larger same-side total, 5,500, is tested against the limit (FINRA Rule 2360(b)(3)).

10,500 contracts: Incorrect. This adds all positions; opposite sides of the market are not combined.

Position limits aggregate controlled accounts by side of the market: long calls with short puts, short calls with long puts.

Answer: B

None, so it may be sent the same day the ROP approves it: Incorrect. ROP approval alone is not enough for a communication sent before the ODD; it must also be filed in advance.

It must be filed with FINRA at least 10 calendar days before use: Correct. FINRA Rule 2220 requires options retail communications not preceded or accompanied by the ODD to be submitted to FINRA at least 10 calendar days before use and to be limited to general descriptions, with no recommendations, past or projected performance, or named securities.

It must include a table of projected returns for sample positions: Incorrect. Projections are prohibited in communications sent before the ODD.

It may be sent only with the confirmation of the first options trade: Incorrect. The issue is pre-ODD use for prospects; confirmations are unrelated.

Pre-ODD options retail communications: general descriptions only, ROP-approved and filed with FINRA at least 10 calendar days before use.

Answer: A

1. 1. Total premium paid = 3 + 2 = 5 per share; 5 × 100 = $500.
2. 2. Upside breakeven = 50 + 5 = 55; downside breakeven = 50 − 5 = 45.
3. 3. Maximum loss occurs if XYZ is exactly 50 at expiration: both options expire worthless, a loss of $500.

Breakevens 45 and 55; maximum loss $500: Correct. Total premium = 3 + 2 = 5. Breakevens are the strike ± total premium (45 and 55), and the most the buyer can lose is the total premium, 5 × 100 = $500, if XYZ closes at 50.

Breakevens 45 and 55; maximum loss unlimited: Incorrect. The breakevens are right, but unlimited loss belongs to a short straddle; a long straddle risks only the premiums paid.

Breakevens 47 and 53; maximum loss $300: Incorrect. This uses only the call premium (3) for both the breakevens and the loss.

Breakevens 48 and 53; maximum loss $200: Incorrect. These are each leg's own breakeven and the put premium alone; a straddle must recover the premium of both legs.

Long straddle: breakevens = strike ± total premiums; maximum loss = total premiums × 100.