After completing a review lasting over a year, on February 4, 2016, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced a content update for the Series 63, 65 and 66 examinations that will be implemented starting on July, 1 2016. With the assistance of Prometric, a leading test development company, and feedback from over 1,000 industry participants and regulators, NASAA assessed each examination’s content and scoring criteria.
The results of NASAA’s content review will lead to updated test specifications set to be rolled out on July 1, 2016. The examination updates will allow for new topics to be introduced and a modification of previous subject areas – all of which are expected to better reflect the skills and knowledge broker-dealer agents and investment adviser representatives need in today’s evolving financial industry.
A few new areas of interest being added to each exam include:
- Series 63: Social media, cybersecurity and data protection
- Series 65: Social media; cybersecurity and data protection; custody obligations; and anti-money laundering
- Series 66: Social media; cybersecurity and data protection; custody obligations; and anti-money laundering
The Series 65 exam, which is a pre-requisite for becoming a representative of a registered investment adviser (RIA) firm unless an individual has a qualifying professional designation or other exemption, will now have the following section weightings and questions by topic:
Source: NASAA Series 65 Test Specifications
It’s also important to note that the new passing score for the Series 66 exam will now be 73 out of 100. In addition, NASAA has noted that in general the content of each test has not undergone a dramatic shift. For more insight on what changes to expect on the Series 63, 65, and 66 exams, NASAA has created an Exam Change Summary and Updated Test Specifications resource page.