Two U.S. regulators and a British industry educator are teaming up to offer a common securities exam, which will allow people to qualify in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

The National Association of Securities Dealers, New York Stock Exchange Regulation and Britain’s Securities & Investment Institute announced an agreement to create a common qualifications test for capital markets professionals. Those passing the new Global Capital Markets Qualification (GCMQ) examination will qualify for a new registration category in the areas of equity and debt capital markets, and syndicate and investment banking that will allow them to move easily between the U.S. and the UK.

It is anticipated that U.S. candidates seeking to work in the capital markets business only will be able to take the new examination rather than the currently required General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7) exam. Advisers, dealers and specialists in wholesale capital markets who are currently certified under the Series 7 would not have to requalify.

The GCMQ exam is expected to be launched in late 2006, as it will be developed over the next 15 months. The plan is to make the core GCMQ unit available to candidates globally via computer-based testing.

The new exam will be comprised of two units. The “core” GCMQ unit will test the knowledge that candidates must have to perform entry-level capital markets work in both countries. The second unit — the regulatory “top off” — will assess knowledge specific to the respective jurisdictions. When fully deployed, capital markets professionals who are fully licensed in either the U.S. or UK will become qualified in the other jurisdiction by taking the applicable top-off exam.

NASD and NYSE Regulation will file a joint rule proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Simon Culhane, chief executive of the UK Securities & Investment Institute, said, “As markets are becoming increasingly global, we are excited about the possibilities for this new exam. We fully expect it to become the de facto benchmark for staff working in the investment banking arena and foresee this as only the beginning. This exam is going to facilitate the global transfer of personnel into new jurisdictions and we see this qualification expanding into other countries. We are proud to be at the forefront of this initiative.”

“With this new examination, we are breaking new ground and helping securities professionals in their efforts to conduct what is now a truly global securities business,” said NASD chairman and CEO Robert Glauber. “This is a terrific example of a win/win for us as well as those we regulate. We will have confidence that securities professionals going back and forth between the U.S. and U.K. have a sound base of knowledge before conducting business, and they will have the portability that they need. We think this is a great start and are excited about including other countries in this endeavor over time.”

“Given the historic ties between our two nations, this agreement is a logical place to begin the task of creating more transportability of qualifications standards for securities professionals worldwide,” said Richard Ketchum, chief regulatory officer, the NYSE. “Since capital markets have long led the way in globalization, it only makes sense to have a common testing standard that provides increased flexibility while maintaining high standards of knowledge in our respective marketplaces.”