The Series 63 examination is a seventy-five (75) minutes 60 multiple-choice question exam. The cost of the examination is approximately $96.00 (as of 7/16/10). The exam covers the following sections:

1. State Securities Acts and related rules and regulations 36 (60%)
   A. Regulation of Investment Advisers, including state-registered and federal covered advisers [3]
   definitions
   registration
   post-registration requirements
   termination
2. B. Regulation of Investment Adviser Representatives [3]
   definition
   registration
   C. Regulation of Broker-dealers (e.g., definition, registration, post-registration requirements) [12]
   definition
   registration
   post-registration requirements
   D. Regulation of Agents of Broker-dealers [6]
   definition
   registration
   termination
   E. Regulations of Securities and Issuers [6]
   definitions
   registration
   post-registration requirements
   exemptions
   state authority over federal covered securities
   F. Remedies and Administrative Provisions [6]
   authority of administrator
   administrative actions
   other penalties and liabilities
   other provisions (e.g., filing of sales, advertising literature)
   
3. Ethical practices and fiduciary obligations 24 (40%)
   A Communications with clients and prospects [8]
   disclosure
   unlawful representations concerning registrations
   performance guarantees
   client contracts
   B. Compensation [4]
   fees
   commissions
   performance-based fees
   soft dollars
   disclosure of compensation
   C. Client Funds and Securities [8]
   custody
   discretion
   trading authorization
   prudent investor standards
   suitability
   D. Conflicts of Interest and Other Fiduciary Issues [4]
   conflict of interest
   excessive trading
   loans to and from clients
   sharing in profits and losses in customer account
   client confidentiality
   insider trading
   selling away
   market manipulation
   other
   

   The North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. has produced a Series 63 content outline, which is available for free.