The FINRA Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam — adaptive practice across capital markets, products and their risks, and the rules of the industry, plus a full-length timed sim.
The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam is the entry point to a securities career: a 75-question, 105-minute FINRA exam that anyone 18 or older can take without firm sponsorship, and the shared foundation the Series 7, 63, 65, and 66 build on. It covers four areas — Knowledge of Capital Markets (how markets, regulators, and the economy work), Understanding Products and Their Risks (equities, debt, options, packaged products, and the risks each carries), Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities (orders, margin, account types, and market conduct), and the Overview of the Regulatory Framework (the SROs, the foundational Acts, and the registration lifecycle).
You build this knowledge — you don’t cram it. Keentune’s adaptive drills map the SIE outline onto three skills and meet you at your level, getting harder as you improve. The math (options profit and loss, accrued interest, yields, sales charges, margin) is computed so every answer is exactly right and every wrong option is a classic exam trap, and every explanation names the mix-up the distractor is baited with — primary vs secondary market, suitability vs best interest, ’33 Act vs ’34 Act. Questions are original, written from the public FINRA content outline and primary sources. When you’re ready, take the full 75-question timed sim to rehearse the real pace.
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What’s on the SIE exam
Questions
75 scored (+10 unscored pretest)
Time
105 minutes
Passing score
70%
Cost
$100 enrollment fee
Eligibility
Anyone 18+ — no firm sponsorship
Result valid
4 years
Knowledge of Capital Markets
16% · 12 Q
Regulators (SEC, FINRA, SROs), primary and secondary markets, offerings, and economic factors.
Understanding Products & Their Risks
44% · 33 Q
Equity, debt, packaged products, options, and money-market instruments — plus the risk types. The largest section by far.
Account types and settlement, orders and margin basics, and prohibited conduct (insider trading, manipulation, AML).
Overview of the Regulatory Framework
9% · 7 Q
The SROs, registration and reporting, and the regulatory structure that ties it together.
Section weights and exam facts from the FINRA SIE content outline, finra.org (verified 2026-07-10).
Sample SIE questions
Worked examples with the answer explained — the same teaching you get after every question in practice. Original questions written by Keentune, not real exam items.
Capital markets
A company sells newly issued shares to the public for the first time. Who receives the money from that sale?
• The issuing company
• Existing shareholders
• The stock exchange
• FINRA
Answer: The issuing company
A first-time sale of newly issued shares is a primary-market transaction (an IPO — initial public offering), so the proceeds go to the issuer that created the securities. The trap is “existing shareholders” — they’re paid only in a secondary-market trade, when investors buy and sell among themselves. Rule: primary market = the issuer gets the cash; secondary market = the money moves between investors.
Regulation
A broker-dealer fails and a customer’s securities go missing from their account. Which organization is designed to protect that customer?
• SIPC
• FDIC
• The SEC
• The Federal Reserve
Answer: SIPC
SIPC (the Securities Investor Protection Corporation) covers the loss of cash and securities when a member broker-dealer fails — up to $500,000 per customer, of which $250,000 may be cash (limits current as of 2026). The trap is FDIC, which insures bank deposits, not brokerage accounts. Rule: SIPC = brokerage custody failure; FDIC = bank deposits — and neither one protects you from market losses.
Practice by section
Knowledge of Capital Markets
Regulators and SROs (SEC, FINRA, MSRB, SIPC), the Federal Reserve and economics, and how securities are issued and traded — primary vs secondary market.
Equity, debt, options, packaged products (funds, ETFs, annuities, REITs), and money-market instruments — plus the risk vocabulary that ties them together.
The foundational Acts (’33, ’34, the 1940 Acts), the SROs and what each covers, and the registration lifecycle — U4/U5, CE, statutory disqualification.
Original practice aligned to the public FINRA SIE content outline — never actual exam questions. Keentune is independent study practice, not affiliated with or endorsed by FINRA or NASAA, and does not guarantee a pass. Educational only — how markets, products, and rules work, not investment advice.
No. The SIE is open to anyone 18 or older — you don’t need to be employed by or sponsored by a member firm. That’s what makes it the natural first securities exam; the Series 7 and other “top-off” exams do require firm sponsorship.
How much does the SIE cost?
The SIE enrollment fee is $100, paid to FINRA when you enroll (fee current as of 2026 — confirm on finra.org before you register).
What score do I need to pass the SIE?
You need 70%. The exam has 75 scored questions (plus 10 unscored pretest questions) in 105 minutes, so you can miss roughly 22 of the 75 and still pass.
How long is an SIE pass valid?
Four years. If you don’t associate with a member firm and add a top-off exam (such as the Series 7) within four years, the SIE result expires and you would retake it.
Can I retake the SIE if I fail?
Yes. FINRA requires a 30-day wait after your first and second attempts, and a 180-day wait after a third or subsequent failure.
Is Keentune’s SIE practice free, and is it the real exam?
The practice is free — no signup to start. It is original study practice aligned to the public FINRA content outline, not real exam questions and not official FINRA material. Keentune is not affiliated with or endorsed by FINRA.
All exam, test, and product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification and reference only. Keentune is independent study practice — not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by any of these organizations.