Waiver of Examination Requirements

The Agency has a process in place for an applicant for registration (or the applicant’s firm) to request and obtain a waiver from one or more of the examination requirements in Rule 115.3 or 116.3 if certain criteria are met. See Rule 115.3(c)(4) regarding dealer and agent examinations and Rule 116.3(c)(5) regarding investment adviser and representative examinations. Waiver requests are considered and granted on a case-by-case basis. A waiver may be considered for an applicant who has previously passed an exam, but may also be considered in rare cases when the applicant has not taken the exam, based on other relevant factors. For more information about the process and to see if you might be eligible for a waiver, please contact the Registration Division at registration@ssb.texas.gov and we can answer your questions and provide you with more detailed information about how to request a waiver in your case.

The waiver request must be made in writing to the Registration Division when the application for registration is submitted. Generally, the request must state the particular exam requirement for which the waiver is requested, whether the applicant has previously passed the exam, and the applicant’s duties and responsibilities at the firm if the waiver and registration is granted. The request must also include a timeline of the applicant’s securities industry experience before any gap in registration and a timeline of any work or school experience during a gap in registration. The Agency may also request other relevant information.

The Agency considers several other factors in determining whether to grant or deny the waiver, including the length of time that has passed since the previous registration expired, extent of experience in the securities industry, and disclosures on the applicant’s Form U4.

Once you have requested the waiver and have provided all other relevant information needed for the staff to make a recommendation to the Commissioner, the Agency will generally approve or deny the request within 2 weeks.