EVEP. As of March 13, 2025, the Texas State Securities Board recognizes NASAA’s Exam Validity Extension Program (EVEP) which allows eligible individuals the opportunity to extend their NASAA qualification exams for a period of up to five years by participating in the program and maintaining continuing education requirements.
Registered agents and investment adviser representatives who opt in to the EVEP can extend the validity of their exams past the standard two years when not registered with a jurisdiction. This will benefit the individual when they reenter the industry and apply for registration in a jurisdiction that has opted in to the program.
This program allows eligible individuals the opportunity to maintain the validity of their Series 63 examination by enrolling in the AG EVEP and Series 65 examination by enrolling in the IAR EVEP. Individuals may also extend their qualifications from the Series 66 examination by enrolling in both the AG EVEP and IAR EVEP programs, since that exam can qualify individuals in both capacities.
A detailed overview of EVEP is found here: https://www.nasaa.org/exams/exam-validity-extension-program/
MQP. In addition, as of March 13, 2025, we also recognize FINRA’s Maintaining Qualifications Program (MQP) which allows eligible individuals to maintain their qualifications for up to five years by completing continuing education (CE) annually. During this time that participants are not in the industry, they are staying relevant on industry practices and ethical responsibilities by completing required continuing education.
This voluntary program allows eligible individuals whose FINRA registration has terminated due to leaving the industry the option to maintain their FINRA qualifications for up to five years, instead of the previous two years, by completing annual continuing education (CE) requirements.
MQP information: https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/continuing-education/CE-transformation/mqp
FINRA Waiver. FINRA may grant waivers for qualification examination requirements for certain eligible qualified applicants in exceptional cases and accept other standards as evidence of an applicant’s qualifications for registration. We will recognize and grant waivers of examination requirements for applicants who have received an examination waiver from FINRA.
Additional Waivers of Examination Requirements. In addition to the EVEP, MQP and FINRA waivers, 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.