Exam file
Inside the Series 79 exam: 75 scored questions, 150 minutes, three functions
The Series 79 (Investment Banking Representative Qualification Exam) gives you 150 minutes for 80 multiple-choice items, 75 of them scored, and sets a passing score of 73 on an equated scale across three outline functions of 37, 20 and 18 items. This page covers what happens inside those two and a half hours; who needs the exam and how sponsorship works is on the license page.
Qualification exam
Series 79
Investment Banking Representative
75
scored items
plus 5 unscored pretest items
150
minutes
one sitting, 2 h 30 min
3
functions
37 · 20 · 18 items
Outline © 2025 · checked Oct 2026
At a glance
Series 79 exam at a glance
Series 79 at a glance
- Exam
- Series 79 — Investment Banking Representative Qualification Exam
- Developed and run by
- FINRA; delivered by Prometric
- Where you sit it
- Prometric test centres (online only with an approved accommodation)
- Items
- 75 scored + 5 unscored pretest, 4 choices each
- Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Passing score
- 73, on an equated scale
- Also required
- the SIE (corequisite) and a sponsoring member firm
- Outline
- F1 37 items · F2 20 · F3 18 (49 / 27 / 24%)
FINRA develops and administers the Series 79 and Prometric delivers it. You sit one block of 80 items, each with four choices: 75 count toward your score and 5 are unscored pretest items that FINRA is trying out for future forms. You get no reference materials and lose nothing for a wrong guess, so every item should leave the room with an answer.
The fee is currently $395 per FINRA’s Series 79 page (checked Oct 2026). You cannot book it on your own: a FINRA member firm has to associate you and sponsor the attempt by filing Form U4, and the SIE is a corequisite. Once you are enrolled, FINRA gives you a 120-day window to sit the exam.
Outline
The content outline: three functions, 75 scored items
FINRA’s content outline splits the 75 scored items into three functions. Function 1 is nearly half the exam and mostly wants arithmetic. The other two want you to know which rule applies at which stage of a deal. The 5 pretest items can come from any function.
| Function | Scope | Items | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Collection, Analysis and Evaluation of Data | 37 | 49% |
| F2 | Underwriting/ | 20 | 27% |
| F3 | M&A, Tender Offers and Financial Restructuring Transactions | 18 | 24% |
Function 1: Collection, Analysis and Evaluation of Data (37 items)
1.1 collecting market, industry, company and comparable-company data, including filings and what you may share across information barriers. 1.2 analysis: the three financial statements, liquidity, profitability and leverage ratios, and valuation (DCF, comparables, precedent transactions, accretion/dilution, WACC). 1.3 due diligence: the disclosure standard, bring-down diligence and data rooms. The Function 1 guide works through the formulas.
Function 2: Underwriting/New Financing Transactions, Types of Offerings and Registration of Securities (20 items)
2.1 public offerings: the registration statement, prospectus delivery and what may be said in each period. 2.2 the syndicate and commitment types. 2.3 execution: book building, pricing, allocation, stabilization, the greenshoe and the spread. 2.4 post-execution records and settlement. 2.5–2.6 exempt securities and exempt transactions, private placements included. The Function 2 guide takes them in deal order.
Function 3: M&A, Tender Offers and Financial Restructuring Transactions (18 items)
3.1 sell-side process, 3.2 buy-side analysis, 3.3 fairness opinions, 3.4 signing to closing, 3.5 tender offer rules and 3.6 restructuring and bankruptcy. Function 3 has no written guide here yet; its 15 items sit in the F3 tab of the practice test, and the study guide lays out all three functions side by side.
37
Function 1 items
49% of the scored exam
20
Function 2 items
27%
18
Function 3 items
24%
Scoring
How the Series 79 is scored (and why 73 is not a percentage)
73
passing score
on an equated scale; FINRA prints it without a unit
5
unscored items
mixed in, unmarked
0
penalty for guessing
Seventy-three looks like a percentage, sits where a percentage would sit, and is not one. FINRA lists a passing score of 73 and equates scores to a common scale. Candidates sit different forms of the exam, and one form can be slightly harder than another. Equating adjusts for that, so a 73 represents the same standard whichever form you happened to get.
That has a practical consequence: you cannot turn 73 into a count of correct answers. The number of items you need right depends on the form, and FINRA does not publish the conversion. Any guide that tells you exactly how many of the 75 to get right is guessing and presenting the guess as a rule.
The five pretest items look exactly like scored ones and do not count. You will not know which they are, so treat every item as live. With no guessing penalty, a blank is just a wrong answer that took less time. Pick your best option and move on.
There is also no published pass rate to measure yourself against; the pass-rate page explains why. The useful number is your own accuracy by function.
The clock
Timing and pacing: 150 minutes for 80 items
Divide 150 minutes by 80 items and you get just under two minutes each. That sounds generous until a Function 1 item asks for an enterprise-value bridge, a terminal value and a discount factor before it lets you choose. A rule question from Function 2 takes seconds if you know the rule. If you don’t, ten minutes won’t help.
| Checkpoint | Even pace | Aim for |
|---|---|---|
| Item 20 | 37–38 min | about 35 min |
| Item 40 | 75 min | about 70 min |
| Item 60 | 112–113 min | about 105 min |
| Item 80 | 150 min | a few minutes spare |
Simple division of FINRA’s time limit, not a FINRA schedule. The buffer in the last column is for the calculation items that run long.
Bank time on the rule items
Answer the ones you know at once. That is where the minutes for the valuation items come from.
Cap the long calculations
If an item has used three minutes and you are no closer, pick the most likely option and move on. A wrong guess costs nothing extra.
Check the checkpoint, not every item
Look at the clock at items 20, 40 and 60. Watching it after every item costs time too.
150
minutes
2 h 30 min, one sitting
80
items on the clock
the 5 pretest items use time too
1:52
per item, on average
Samples
What Series 79 questions look like: one sample per function
Series 79 items are four-option multiple choice, and the wrong options are rarely random. Each one is usually the answer you get after a typical slip: an enterprise-value multiple read straight off as the equity value, the period before effectiveness mistaken for the one after, a calendar day where the rule says business day. Three original practice items follow, one per function, each with the reasoning and a note on every option.
One item per function 3 items
Item 1 of 3
F1 · Data & valuation
A firm projects $40.0 million in free cash flow for Year 1, distributed evenly throughout the year. WACC is 10.0%. The analyst switches from an annual mid-year discounting convention to an exact quarter-end convention. What is the approximate percentage variance in the calculated Year 1 present value?
Pick A–D (or press 1–4). The reasoning lands here, with a note on every option — including the ones that were only trying to look helpful.
| Function | Outline | Answered | Right | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 Data & valuation | 49% | 0/1 | 0 | 0 |
| F2 Underwriting | 27% | 0/1 | 0 | 0 |
| F3 M&A & restructuring | 24% | 0/1 | 0 | 0 |
| Book | — | 0/3 | 0 | 0 |
Pick an option and the item locks, then the memo opens with the verdict and a note on each choice, including the ones you passed over. The tabs filter by function. The book stores nothing after you close the page and predicts no score. For 60 more items in the same format, weighted to the outline, go to the Series 79 practice test.
Difficulty
How hard is the Series 79 exam?
- Cash subtracted, not added, in the bridge from equity value to enterprise value
- The waiting period allows oral offers and indications of interest, never sales
- Greenshoe: up to 15% of the base deal, within 30 days
- Tender offers run in business days, not calendar days
- A fairness opinion speaks to fairness, not to the best price or how to vote
Hard in a specific way. The Series 79 is short for a FINRA exam, at 75 scored items, but nearly half of them are financial analysis and valuation. Function 1 tests whether you can compute the answer; Functions 2 and 3 test whether you know what the rules allow at each stage of a deal. A candidate who is quick with spreadsheets and has never read Section 5 of the Securities Act will find out about Function 2 on the day.
Points go in predictable places. The checklist beside this text lists five that come up again and again in practice explanations, and most of them are about reading the item carefully rather than not knowing the material.
If you hold the Series 7 or are deciding between the two, the Series 79 vs Series 7 comparison sets the formats side by side. To calibrate without a pass rate, run each function tab in the practice test and see which column of the closing ledger is weakest.
Test day
Series 79 test day at Prometric
You sit the Series 79 at a Prometric test centre. Once your firm has enrolled you, you schedule the appointment inside the 120-day window. Online delivery is not a general option for this exam. FINRA offers remote testing for exams other than the SIE only as an approved accommodation: for candidates who are immunocompromised or who live more than 150 miles from a test centre.
Rescheduling has a price that rises as the date approaches. Under FINRA’s cancellation policy (checked Oct 2026), moving or cancelling at least 10 business days ahead is free. Between 3 and 10 business days ahead costs $197.50. Within 2 business days, or a no-show, costs the full $395. The deadline is midnight Eastern Time.
The data room is closed on the day: no reference materials, no notes, no formula sheet written on the train. Whatever you need for a DCF has to be in your head. At a test centre the result comes on the day. With online delivery you see a provisional pass or fail on screen, and FINRA validates it within 3 business days.
- Sponsoring firm files Form U4 to enroll you
- SIE passed, or scheduled (either order)
- Appointment booked with Prometric inside the 120-day window
- Reschedule at least 10 business days ahead to avoid a fee
Retakes
If you fail: retake waiting periods
30
days after a 1st or 2nd fail
in force as of October 2026
180
days after 3 fails in a row
within 2 years; in force as of October 2026
As of October 2026, the waiting periods in force under FINRA Rule 1210 are 30 days after a first or second failed attempt and 180 days after three consecutive failures within two years.
FINRA has filed a change, SR-FINRA-2026-014 (June 29, 2026), that cuts the waits to 15 days, and to 60 days after three or more failures within two years. FINRA will announce the date it takes effect in a Regulatory Notice, and none had been published when this page was checked in October 2026. Until then, plan around 30 and 180 days.
History
What changed in 2018 and October 2025
Most of the outdated information about the Series 79 comes from two changes. If a guide still mentions five hours, it is describing an exam that was retired in October 2018.
Nov 2009
The exam starts
The investment banking registration category and the Series 79 take effect under the rule that preceded today’s Rule 1220.
Before Oct 2018
175 items, 5 hours
The old exam had 175 scored items and a fourth function on general securities regulation, with no SIE alongside it.
Oct 1, 2018
The SIE split
General knowledge moved to the SIE, which became a corequisite. The Series 79 shrank to 75 scored items in 2 h 30 min (Regulatory Notice 17-30). The scored content has not changed since.
Oct 27, 2025
Pretest cut to 5
Unscored pretest items fell from 10 to 5, taking the total from 85 items to 80. The functions and the 37 / 20 / 18 split stayed the same.
Jun 29, 2026
Shorter retake waits filed
SR-FINRA-2026-014 would cut the retake waits to 15 / 60 days. As of October 2026 no operative date has been announced.
Questions people ask
FAQ
What kind of questions are on the Series 79?
Four-option multiple choice, mostly built on a short deal scenario: a set of financials to value, an offering timeline to place, a transaction to classify. Many Function 1 items end in a calculation, and the wrong options are usually what a common slip produces. The three samples above show one item per function.
How many questions are on the Series 79?
80 multiple-choice items with four options each: 75 scored and 5 unscored pretest items. The pretest count was 10 until October 27, 2025, which is why older guides say 85. Before October 2018 the exam had 175 scored items and lasted 5 hours.
How many times can you take the Series 79?
As many times as it takes: Rule 1210 sets waiting periods, not a cap. As of October 2026 you wait 30 days after a first or second failure and 180 days after three failures in a row within two years, and each attempt is a new enrollment through your firm. A filed change cuts the waits to 15 and 60 days, but FINRA has not set its date yet.
Is the Series 79 passing score 73 percent?
No. FINRA lists a passing score of 73 on a scale that is equated across exam forms. It is not a percentage, and it does not convert into a fixed number of correct answers.
When do you get your Series 79 results?
At a Prometric test centre, on the day you sit it. With online delivery, which FINRA allows only as an approved accommodation, you see a provisional pass or fail on screen and FINRA validates it within 3 business days. The registration still waits for the SIE, as the license page explains.
Can you bring notes or a formula sheet to the Series 79?
No. No reference materials go into the exam, so there are no notes and no formula sheet: every formula behind the valuation items has to be memorised. The Function 1 guide collects the ones that come up.
How long is the Series 79 exam?
150 minutes, or 2 h 30 min in one sitting, for all 80 items. That is just under two minutes an item, and the 5 unscored pretest items use the clock like the rest. The Series 7 runs 3 h 45 min; the 79 vs 7 page lines the two exams up.
Can I take the Series 79 online?
Only with an approved accommodation, for candidates who are immunocompromised or who live more than 150 miles from a test centre. Otherwise you sit it at a Prometric test centre.
Keep the drills on your phone
The Series 79 practice app carries the full question bank across all three functions.