Series 99 Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: C

Articles of incorporation and board minutes: Wrong. Correctly scheduled: 17a-4(d) requires these for the life of the firm and any successor.

Business emails with customers: Wrong. Correctly scheduled: communications are three-year records under 17a-4(b)(4).

Cash receipts and disbursements blotter: Correct. Blotters are six-year records under SEA Rule 17a-4(a); a three-year schedule would destroy them three years early.

Customer order tickets: Wrong. Correctly scheduled: order tickets are three-year records under 17a-4(b).

Blotters, including cash blotters, are six-year records; charter documents and minutes last for the life of the firm.

Answer: B

set the minimum capital the firm needs for proprietary trading: Wrong. Capital minimums come from the net capital rule, 15c3-1, not the reserve formula.

confine customer credits to customer debits, reserving any excess: Correct. SEA Rule 15c3-3(e): if customer credits exceed customer debits, the firm deposits the excess in a special reserve bank account for the exclusive benefit of customers, so customer funds are not used for firm business.

measure the firm's aggregate indebtedness against its net capital: Wrong. The aggregate indebtedness ratio is a 15c3-1 net capital test.

decide how much customer margin stock the firm may pledge: Wrong. Pledging limits on customer securities are separate hypothecation rules; the reserve formula deals with customer cash.

The reserve formula keeps customer cash for customer purposes: credits in excess of debits go to a special reserve bank account.

Answer: B

Send copies only after Sandoval signs a separate release: Wrong. Rule 3210(c) ties the duty to the employer member's written request; no extra release from the associated person is required.

Send Thornbury duplicate confirms and statements, or the data: Correct. FINRA Rule 3210(c): on the employer member's written request, the executing member must transmit duplicate copies of confirmations and statements, or the transactional data they contain.

Notify FINRA before releasing account data to another member: Wrong. No FINRA notice is required; the duty runs directly between the executing and employer members.

Send duplicate statements only, since confirmations go to the owner: Wrong. The rule covers both confirmations and statements; sending statements alone is incomplete.

When an employer member asks in writing, the executing firm must send duplicate confirmations and statements (or the data) for its associated person's account.

Answer: C

1. Settlement date = Tuesday, September 15.
2. Long sale: close out by the beginning of regular trading hours on the third consecutive settlement day after settlement.
3. Settlement days after Sep 15: Wed 16 (1), Thu 17 (2), Fri 18 (3).
4. Deadline: market open Friday, September 18 (T+4).

Market open, Wednesday, September 16: Applies the short-sale deadline: open of the settlement day after settlement (T+2). Long sales get more time.

Market open, Thursday, September 17: Counts the settlement date itself as the first of the three days.

Market open, Friday, September 18: Correct. For a long sale, Rule 204(a)(1) requires close-out by the open of the third consecutive settlement day after the settlement date: Sep 16, 17, 18 (T+4).

Market open, Tuesday, September 22: Uses the old T+6 long-sale deadline from before T+1 settlement.

Reg SHO 204 under T+1: short-sale fails close by the open of T+2; long-sale and bona fide market-making fails by the open of T+4.

Answer: C

1. Maintenance requirement: equity ≥ 25% of LMV, so the debit ≤ 75% of LMV.
2. Trigger LMV = debit ÷ (1 − 0.25) = $15,000 ÷ 0.75.
3. = $20,000.
4. Check: at $20,000, equity = $5,000 = 25% of $20,000. Below that, a call is issued.

$18,000: Takes 75% of the current market value (a 25% decline). The trigger depends on the debit balance, not on today's LMV.

$18,750: Applies the 25% to the debit ($15,000 × 1.25). Maintenance is 25% of market value.

$20,000: Correct. At 25% maintenance, equity must be at least 25% of LMV, so the debit can be no more than 75% of LMV. $15,000 ÷ 0.75 = $20,000; below that, equity is under 25%.

$30,000: Divides the debit by 0.50, the Reg T initial requirement. That is not the maintenance test.

Long maintenance call point = debit ÷ 0.75 (at a 25% requirement).

Answer: C

Charge the sales charge for purchases under $50,000: Ignores rights of accumulation. Charging the higher rate when a discount is available is a breakpoint violation.

Suggest a letter of intent to reach $50,000 in 13 months: A letter of intent is a valid tool, but she already qualifies today by counting her existing holdings, so asking her to invest more is not the best answer.

Apply the $50,000 breakpoint, counting her existing shares: Correct. Rights of accumulation combine her existing $7,000 with the new $48,000 ($55,000), so the purchase qualifies for the $50,000 breakpoint now.

Apply the $50,000 rate only if she adds $2,000 more: Ignores rights of accumulation: her existing $7,000 already brings the total to $55,000, so no extra purchase is needed to qualify.

Firms must apply every breakpoint discount a customer qualifies for, including rights of accumulation.

Answer: B

1. The holding period begins when the securities are bought and fully paid for: March 3, 2026.
2. The issuer is a current reporting company, so the holding period is 6 months.
3. March 3, 2026 + 6 months = September 3, 2026.

August 17, 2026: Counts from the agreement date. The holding period starts when the shares are acquired and fully paid for.

September 3, 2026: Correct. For a reporting issuer the holding period is 6 months, running from full payment on March 3. Six months later is September 3, 2026.

March 3, 2027: Uses the 1-year period, which applies to non-reporting issuers.

March 3, 2028: Uses the superseded 2-year period (before 2008).

Rule 144 holding period: 6 months (reporting issuer) or 1 year (non-reporting), counted from full payment.

Answer: B

1. Keep only currency: the cashier's check is not currency.
2. Keep only Kiran Bhatt's transactions: Delia Ford is a different person.
3. Aggregate across both branches: $6,200 + $4,300 = $10,500.
4. $10,500 is more than $10,000 in one business day, so a CTR is required (file within 15 days).

$6,200; no CTR: Fails to aggregate across branches. Multiple currency transactions are combined firm-wide when the firm knows they are by or for the same person on the same business day.

$10,500; CTR required: Correct. Kiran's currency is $6,200 + $4,300 = $10,500. That is more than $10,000 in one business day, so a CTR must be filed within 15 days.

$15,500; CTR required: Includes the cashier's check. A CTR counts currency (coin and paper money) only.

$18,500; CTR required: Adds Delia Ford's deposit and the cashier's check. Only currency by or for the same person is aggregated.

CTRs cover currency over $10,000 in one business day, aggregated firm-wide for the same person; checks and other people's deposits are excluded.

Answer: C

The customer disputes a share count on her last statement: Rule 11870 says a dispute over securities positions or the money balance is not a basis for exception. The transfer goes ahead and the dispute is resolved separately.

The account carries a margin debit balance: A debit balance is transferred to the receiving firm with the account. It is not an exception reason.

The account title differs from the carrying firm's records: Correct. An account title mismatch is one of the listed exception reasons, along with a mismatched SSN/TIN or account type, missing documentation, and a flat or duplicate account.

The account holds a proprietary fund the receiver can't carry: Nontransferable assets are not an exception. The customer gives instructions to liquidate them, leave them or transfer them elsewhere.

ACATS exceptions cover identity and documentation problems (title, SSN/TIN, account type, flat, duplicate); position or balance disputes are never valid exceptions.

Answer: A

Obtain her residential street address before opening the account: Correct. For an individual, the CIP must collect a residential or business street address before the account is opened. A P.O. box alone does not satisfy the rule; it can still be used as a mailing address.

Open the account and verify the address within 30 days: Mixes up collection and verification. Verification may follow account opening within a reasonable time, but the four identifying items must be obtained before opening.

Accept the P.O. box because her license number was verified: An ID number does not replace the address element. CIP requires name, date of birth, street address and ID number.

Open the account and record the box as a mailing address only: Recording the box as a mailing address is fine, but the account still cannot be opened without a residential or business street address.

CIP requires name, date of birth, a residential or business street address and an ID number before an account is opened; verification can follow within a reasonable time.

Answer: C

The firm names one contact, who must be the chief compliance officer: Wrong. Two contacts are required, and neither must be the CCO.

Both contacts must be registered principals: Wrong. Only one must be a registered principal in senior management; the second may be a senior manager who knows the business.

At least one must be a senior-management registered principal: Correct. FINRA Rule 4370(f)(1): the firm designates two emergency contacts, at least one of whom is a member of senior management and a registered principal.

The contacts are updated only at the annual BCP review: Wrong. Rule 4370(f)(2) requires prompt updates after any material change, not just at the annual review.

Firms report two emergency contacts, at least one a senior-management registered principal, and update them promptly.

Answer: C

I only: Wrong. Statement III is also a takeover pattern: a new device followed by credential changes.

I and II: Wrong. Statement II is a verified, routine request from the number on file, not a red flag.

I and III: Correct. Urgent email instructions to pay a new third party with the customer unreachable, and a new-device login followed by credential changes, are classic account-takeover signs to escalate under the firm's Regulation S-ID program.

III and IV: Wrong. Statement IV is a properly guaranteed transfer between the customer's own accounts, not a red flag on its face.

Urgent new-payee instructions the customer cannot confirm, and credential changes after an unusual login, point to account takeover.

Answer: A

prohibited, except at Sedgefield's request and on its behalf: Correct. FINRA Rule 2060: a member acting as transfer agent or paying agent may not use ownership information to solicit purchases, sales or exchanges, except at the issuer's request and on the issuer's behalf.

permitted if holders first receive Rookwood's privacy notice: Wrong. A privacy notice does not lift the Rule 2060 bar on using fiduciary information to solicit.

permitted for holders who are already Rookwood customers: Wrong. Existing customer status does not matter; the information was obtained as transfer agent.

permitted for registered holders, but not for beneficial owners: Wrong. The bar covers any ownership information obtained in the agent capacity.

Ownership data learned as transfer or paying agent cannot be used to solicit, except for the issuer at its request.

Answer: B

as soon as possible, but within 24 hours: Wrong. Twenty-four hours is shorter than the rule requires; the outer limit is 72 hours.

as soon as possible, but within 72 hours: Correct. Regulation S-P 248.30(a)(5)(i): the covered firm's service-provider oversight, through due diligence and monitoring, must be reasonably designed to ensure the provider notifies the firm as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of a breach. Penhallow remains responsible for any customer notices.

as soon as possible, but within 7 days: Wrong. Seven days is longer than the 72-hour limit.

as soon as possible, but within 30 days: Wrong. Thirty days is the firm's deadline to notify customers, not the provider's deadline to notify the firm.

The broker-dealer must require, through its oversight of service providers, notice of a breach within 72 hours; the firm then has up to 30 days to notify affected customers.

Answer: D

Correspondence, because each copy is sent by email: Wrong. The channel does not decide the category; the number of retail investors within 30 days does.

Institutional communication, as it is purely operational: Wrong. Institutional communications go only to institutional investors; these recipients are retail customers.

Correspondence, because it makes no recommendation: Wrong. A lack of recommendations can change how a retail communication is approved, but not its category.

Retail communication, given its 40 retail recipients: Correct. FINRA Rule 2210(a)(5): a written communication distributed to more than 25 retail investors within any 30-calendar-day period is a retail communication; 40 recipients over two weeks qualifies, and 25 or fewer would be correspondence.

Correspondence reaches 25 or fewer retail investors in 30 calendar days; more than 25 makes it a retail communication.