Both Series 9/10 and 24 are the exams that must be completed by a principal before he or she can undertake certain sales activities.
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a principal who has completed the Series 24 examination is qualified to supervise the following sales activities:
Corporate securities; rights; warrants; closed-end funds; money market funds; REITS; asset-backed securities; (corporate) mortgage-backed securities; mutual funds; variable annuities and variable life insurance; direct participation programs; securities traders; venture capital; mergers and acquisitions; and corporate financing.
FINRA indicates that a principal who has completed the Series 24 exam is also qualified to supervise, in addition to sales, the overall investment banking and securities business of a member firm.
Completion of the Series 9/10 examination, which covers more terrain, qualifies a principal (excluding securities traders and those involved in venture capital; mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing) to supervise sales in all of the above, as well as the following: equity options; options on [corporate] mortgage-backed securities; government securities; repos and certificates of accrual on government securities; municipal securities, and municipal fund securities.