This SIE cheat sheet condenses FINRA's Securities Industry Essentials exam into a printable rundown of the facts that show up most often. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free SIE toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
SIE exam at a glance
- Questions: 75 scored + 5 unscored pretest = 80 total
- Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Passing score: 70%
- Cost: $80 — no sponsor required (anyone 18+ can sit it)
What’s on the SIE cheat sheet
- Knowledge of Capital Markets (16%) — regulators & SROs, primary vs. secondary market, the 1933 & 1934 Acts, economic factors.
- Understanding Products & Their Risks (44%) — equity, debt, packaged products, options, and the risks of each — the biggest section.
- Trading, Customer Accounts & Prohibited Activities (31%) — order types, account types, settlement, and prohibited practices.
- Overview of the Regulatory Framework (9%) — SRO registration, reportable events, and books & records.
How to use it in your final week
- Print it and keep it beside your practice tests — review the sheet, then immediately drill the domain you just reviewed so the facts stick.
- Front-load Products & Their Risks (44% of the exam). If you only master one section from the sheet, make it this one.
- Read the sheet the morning of the exam for a final pass on the memory hooks — regulators, the 1933/1934 split, SIPC limits, and Reg D thresholds.
- Don't cram in isolation — pair each review pass with a short timed practice set to keep your pacing sharp (75 questions in 105 minutes ≈ 1.4 min each).
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your SIE practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
SIE cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the SIE cheat sheet is 100% free — enter your email and we'll send the PDF straight to your inbox. It's part of Career Employer's free SIE toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
The cheat sheet condenses the highest-yield SIE facts into a quick reference: the regulators and SROs, the 1933 vs. 1934 Acts, securities products and their risks, trading and customer-account rules, and prohibited activities — organized by FINRA's four exam functions and their weightings.
It's built from FINRA's current SIE content outline and reflects the October 2025 change reducing unscored pretest items from 10 to 5 (75 scored + 5 unscored = 80 total). We review it against FINRA's outline regularly.
No — the cheat sheet is a review and last-week cram aid, not a substitute for practice. The best predictor of passing is scoring 80%+ on realistic practice tests, so use the cheat sheet to reinforce facts and the practice exam to build your readiness.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page, enter your email, and we'll send your cheat sheet straight to your inbox — read it online or download the PDF. Bookmark this page so you can find it again in your final week of studying.
References
- 1.FINRA. “Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam.” FINRA.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.FINRA. “SIE Content Outline.” FINRA.org, 2026. ↑
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