Statement Regarding Series 24 Exam

WASHINGTON – Due to a configuration error, some of the individuals who took the Series 24 supervisory examination in recent weeks incorrectly received a failing grade. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is notifying all of the affected firms and is correcting individual records in its CRD database.

FINRA administered Series 24 examinations to approximately 1,421 individuals from July 13 through Sept. 24, 2015. Some 208 test takers were impacted by the error in grading the test. FINRA apologizes to the affected individuals for any problems the error may have caused. No individuals incorrectly received a passing grade.

A new version of the Series 24 exam introduced on July 13 included a configuration error that caused incorrect failing results to be reported for some candidates. During the course of a regular staff review, an unusual increase in test failures became evident.  FINRA staff moved quickly to evaluate and immediately correct the problem. FINRA also conducted a review to ensure that no other exam series was affected. In 2014, FINRA administered nearly 210,000 exams.

The Series 24 exam covers the knowledge of critical functions, rules and statutory regulations necessary to supervise the management of a general securities broker-dealer firm.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business – from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, and informing and educating the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.