The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) periodically updates the Series 63, Series 65, and Series 66 exams to reflect evolving industry practices and regulations. Their newest versions of these exams will go live on June 12, 2023.
NASAA’s changes to these exams are minimal. The content for each exam remains largely the same. Topic weightings between certain test sections were adjusted minimally. The exams will align with the Secure Act 2.0, which tests retirement account contribution limits, required minimum distribution (RMD), and contribution eligibility.
“KM students have all the study resources they need to pass the updated Series 63/65/66 exams.”
What the Exam Changes Mean for KM Students
Knopman Marks students have all the study resources they need to pass the current and updated versions of the Series 63/65/66 exams. Any relevant content updates have been incorporated into the online question bank and other study resources.
We continually monitor NASAA exams and will incorporate any additional changes and updates to your online question bank and other study tools.
If you are testing on or after June 12, 2023, read on to see how the changes will impact your exam.
How Will the Series 63 Exam Change?
The changes to Series 63 content are minimal, with the greatest change made to the weighting within each topic, as summarized below:
- Regulation of Broker-dealers will be reduced from 9 to 7 questions (will be 12% of the updated exam)
- Regulation of Agents will be reduced from 9 to 8 questions (now 13%)
- Securities and Issuers will increase from 3 to 5 questions (now 9%)
- Remedies of the Administrator will increase from 6 to 7 questions (now 12%)
The passing score remains 72%, which is 43 correct out of 60 graded questions.
How Will the Series 65 Exam Change?
There have been several additions to the Series 65 content outline, as indicated below. Most of these topics are also tested on FINRA’s SIE and Series 7 exams (for those of you who have attempted either or both).
The topics below were added and may appear with more frequency on the Series 65, but in less detail than on the SIE or Series 7 exams:
- Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs)/blind pools
- Liquid versus non-liquid real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Digital asset characteristics and risks
- Environmental, social, governance (ESG), and religious investment criteria
- Pension and retirement plan distribution taxation
- Governmental benefits – income related monthly adjusted amounts (IRMAAs)
- Donor advised funds
- Trade execution and payment for order flow
- Exploitation of vulnerable adults
The topics below were removed from the updated content outline and therefore you will see fewer or no questions on the following items:
- Sovereign balance of payments
- Forward contracts
- Viatical/life settlements
- Investment real estate
- Dark pools
The test section/topic weightings will not change.
To pass the Series 65, candidates will need to answer 92/130 questions correctly (70.7%), which is a change from the prior passing score, which was 94/130 (72%).
How Will the Series 66 Exam Change?
There have been several additions to the Series 66 content outline, as indicated below. These topics are also tested on FINRA’s SIE and Series 7 exams (for those of you who have attempted either or both). They may appear with more frequency on the Series 66, but in less detail:
- American depository receipts (ADRs)
- Different types of preferred stock
- Money market instruments
- Employee stock option plans (ESOPs)
- Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs)/blind pools
- Liquid versus non-liquid real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Digital asset characteristics and risks
- Environmental, social, governance (ESG), and religious investment criteria
- Pension and retirement plan distribution taxation Governmental benefits – income related monthly adjusted amounts (IRMAAs)
- Donor advised funds
- Trade execution and payment for order flow
- Exploitation of vulnerable adults
- Business continuity plan disaster recovery and succession planning
The topics below were removed from the updated content outline, and therefore you will see fewer or no questions on the following items:
- Viatical/life settlements
- Investment policy statements
- Prohibited transactions
- Dark pools
- High frequency trading
- The test section/topic weightings changes are:
- Economic Factors and Business Information will be reduced from 8 to 5 questions (5% of the updated exam)
- Investment Vehicle Characteristics will increase from 17 to 20 questions (20% of the updated exam)
A passing score remains 73%, which means candidates must answer 73 of 100 graded questions correctly.