An active Series 7, Series 65, or Series 82 license qualifies you as an accredited investor under SEC Rule 501(a)(10), regardless of your income or net worth.1U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accredited Investors The credential has to be in good standing. A lapsed, inactive, or purged registration does not work, and no other professional license currently qualifies — the SEC has not added to the list since the rule took effect in 2020.2U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Amendments to Accredited Investor Definition
That’s the answer. The rest is what the qualification actually requires of you in practice: keeping the license alive, proving it to issuers, and handling the FINRA rules that apply to you as a registered person when you invest in a private deal.
The Three Qualifying Licenses
Rule 501(a)(10) of Regulation D designates three FINRA-administered qualifications. The SEC can add others by order in the future, but as of 2026 these are it.
Series 7 – General Securities Representative
The Series 7 is the broadest of the three. FINRA’s General Securities Representative exam covers corporate securities, municipal bonds, investment company products, variable annuities, options, direct participation programs, and government securities.3Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Series 7 – General Securities Representative Exam You also need the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam as a corequisite; passing one without the other does not complete the registration.
Series 65 – Investment Adviser Representative
The Series 65, formally the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, qualifies you to act as an investment adviser representative. NASAA develops the exam and FINRA administers it.4Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Series 65 – Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam Unlike the Series 7 and Series 82, it does not require the SIE first.
Series 82 – Private Securities Offerings Representative
The Series 82 is the most specialized. It permits a registered representative to sell private placement securities as part of a primary offering only. No resales, no secondary market trading of those securities.5Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Private Securities Offerings Qualifications Examination – Test Series 82 The exam covers corporate securities characteristics, regulation of registered and unregistered markets, securities analysis, and customer account handling.
One boundary worth stating so you don’t assume it: passing the exam is not enough by itself. The credential has to be active. Rule 501(a)(10) requires the license be held “in good standing” with the relevant regulator.6eCFR. 17 CFR Part 230 – General Rules and Regulations, Securities Act of 1933 – Section: 230.501 Definitions and Terms Used in Regulation D If your registration lapses, you fall back on the income and net worth tests like anyone else.
Keeping the License Active
Active status is a moving target, not a one-time achievement. Two things put it at risk: continuing education deadlines and leaving your firm.
Continuing Education
FINRA requires the Regulatory Element of continuing education every year by December 31 for each registration you hold.7FINRA. Continuing Education (CE) Your employing broker-dealer also has to administer a separate Firm Element program annually. Miss the Regulatory Element deadline and your registration can go CE-inactive, which strips your accredited status until you complete the requirement and restore active standing.
If You Leave Your Firm
Securities licenses are tied to a sponsoring firm. When you leave, your registration terminates by default, and the credential stops working for accreditation purposes. FINRA’s Maintaining Qualifications Program (MQP) is the workaround. It lets you keep your qualifications valid for up to five years after termination by completing annual continuing education through the program.8FINRA. Maintaining Qualifications Program (MQP) Quick Reference
To be eligible, you must have held the registration for at least one year before termination, you cannot be subject to a statutory disqualification, and you cannot have been CE-inactive for two consecutive years. Enrollment has to happen within two years of termination and costs $100 per year, managed through your FinPro account. Miss that enrollment window and the fix is retaking the qualification exam.
How Issuers Verify Your Status
What the issuer needs from you depends on which Regulation D exemption they’re using. The two look similar from the outside and work quite differently once you’re in the paperwork.
Rule 506(b) Offerings
Most private placements use Rule 506(b), which prohibits general solicitation but allows sales to unlimited accredited investors. The issuer needs only a “reasonable belief” that you qualify.9U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Assessing Accredited Investors Under Regulation D In practice that usually means a detailed investor questionnaire where you represent your accredited status and identify your license type and registration status. The issuer weighs the questionnaire against whatever else they know about you.
Rule 506(c) Offerings
Rule 506(c) permits general solicitation — public advertising of the deal — but in exchange requires the issuer to take “reasonable steps to verify” every investor’s accredited status. Checking a self-certification box is explicitly not enough.9U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Assessing Accredited Investors Under Regulation D For a license holder, verification usually means the issuer or a third-party verification service confirming your active registration through public databases. The rule is principles-based, so there is no single mandated checklist.
What to Have Ready
Your Central Registration Depository (CRD) number is the starting point. Every registered securities professional has one, and it opens the door to your registration record. You can find yours by searching your name on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.10Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. BrokerCheck Search Help
Series 65 holders may appear on the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website rather than, or in addition to, BrokerCheck. IAPD shows current registrations and employment history.11Investment Adviser Public Disclosure. Investment Adviser Public Disclosure Saving the public report from whichever database applies to you gives you the paper trail issuers commonly ask for. Some issuers or verification services will also request a letter from your firm or documentation from your FinPro account showing active CE status.
FINRA Rules That Apply When You Invest
The accreditation discussion often stops at eligibility, but the same license that qualifies you also brings compliance duties when you actually put money into a private deal. These obligations exist independently of your accredited status.
Rule 3280 – Private Securities Transactions
Before you participate in any private securities transaction, FINRA Rule 3280 requires written notice to your employing firm. The notice must describe the proposed transaction, your role, and any compensation you have received or expect to receive.12Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Private Securities Transactions of an Associated Person Skipping the notice can trigger discipline even when the investment itself is legitimate and you clearly qualified as accredited.
Rule 3270 – Outside Business Activities
If your role in the deal goes beyond a passive investment — sitting on the issuer’s board, taking a fundraising fee, or similar — FINRA Rule 3270 may apply on top of Rule 3280. It requires prior written notice before engaging in compensated business activity outside your firm.13Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. 3270 – Outside Business Activities of Registered Persons Purely passive investments are exempt from Rule 3270, but your firm still evaluates which rule applies. Notify compliance early and let them classify the activity.
What You’re Trading For Access
Accredited status opens the door to private placements, and those offerings sit in a lighter regulatory environment than the registered securities you work with professionally. Issuers are not required to give you the disclosures SEC registration demands, and offering documents are typically not reviewed by any regulator.14Investor.gov. Private Placements Under Regulation D – Updated Investor Bulletin
You may see less than you need to judge whether the price is fair or the business is sound. A private placement memorandum need not present risks in a balanced way, and no one at the SEC has vetted it. The federal antifraud rules still apply — issuers cannot make material misstatements or omit material facts — but after-the-fact enforcement is not the same protection as upfront disclosure. The SEC’s reasoning behind the professional-license pathway is that your training equips you to do that analysis yourself. That is the trade being offered.