Preparatory Course Series 50 USA American Broker Examination Advisor (FINRA)

Understanding SEC and MSRB Rules Regarding Municipal Advisors
1
Assess application of SEC and MSRB rules to firm activities
2
Educate clients on implication of rules for issuers
3
Use various resources (web, books, internal policies, etc.) to gain understanding of regulatory framework and rules
4
Maintain records for compliance with SEC and MSRB rules
Understanding Municipal Finance
1
Identify market participants
2
Consider possible financing solutions for municipal issuers
3
Perform quantitative analysis
4
Monitor current interest rates and market conditions
Performing Issuer’s Credit Analysis and Due Diligence
1
Review relevant financial information
2
Components of financial statements
3
Performing due diligence to know your client
4
Distressed events
Structuring and Pricing and Executing Municipal Debt Products
1
Define characteristics of proposed transaction
2
Price negotiated bond transactions
3
Conduct competitive sales
4
Participate in disclosure preparation process
Understanding Requirements Related to the Issuance of Municipal Debt
1
Monitor for arbitrage rebate compliance (ARC)
2
Develop process for post-issuance compliance
Rules & Regulations
1
SEC rules
2
MSRB rules
Sample questions
1
Example
Any natural person associated with a municipal advisor
who intends to engage in municipal advisory activities on
behalf of the municipal advisor must pass the Series 50
exam to be qualified as a municipal advisor representative.
In addition, any natural person associated with a municipal
advisor who intends to engage in the management,
direction or supervision of the municipal advisory activities
of the municipal advisor firm must also pass the Series 50
exam to be qualified as a municipal advisor principal.1
An individual who has passed another MSRB or MSRBrecognized qualification examination or has a professional
designation is not exempt from the requirement to qualify
as a municipal advisor representative or municipal advisor
principal by passing the Series 50 exam.
Pursuant to MSRB Rule G-3, a person associated with
a municipal advisor who engages in municipal advisory
activities2
on the municipal advisor’s behalf, other than a
person performing only clerical, administrative, support or
similar functions, is a municipal advisor representative.
Pursuant to MSRB Rule G-3, a person associated with
a municipal advisor who is directly engaged in the
management, direction or supervision of the municipal
advisory activities of the municipal advisor and that of its
associated persons, is a municipal advisor principal.
No. If a municipal advisor hires an individual to engage
in municipal advisory activities or supervise the municipal
advisory activities of the municipal advisor and that of its
associated persons, the individual will need to take and
pass the Series 50 exam before engaging in or supervising
municipal advisory activities on behalf of the firm.
The passing score for the Series 50 exam is 71%.
Individuals have 180 minutes to complete the Series 50
exam. Before the 180-minute exam begins, each individual
is provided a short tutorial on the administration of the
computerized exam.
Each individual will receive 100 unique computergenerated questions drawn from a large collection of test
questions available for the Series 50 exam. The random
selection of test questions is subject to restrictions to
ensure that the content covered by the examination and
the overall difficulty of the examination is the same for all
candidates.
In addition to the 100 questions, the exam includes
10 additional questions that are randomly distributed
throughout the examination and do not count for scoring
purposes. These 10 questions serve to pretest items to ensure that they meet acceptable measurement standards
prior to use in future administrations of the Series 50 exam.
Once an individual has completed the Series 50 exam at
the test center, the test results will be displayed on the
computer screen indicating whether the individual has
passed or failed the exam. In addition, the test center
will provide each individual with a print-out of their exam
result. Individuals should provide a copy of this notification
to their firm’s compliance officer.
As provided for in MSRB Rule G-3 and consistent with
other MSRB examinations, an individual who fails to pass
the Series 50 exam is only permitted to retake the exam
after a period of 30-calendar days has elapsed from the
date of the failed examination. However, an individual
does not have to wait 30-calendar days from the date of
the failed examination to schedule the appointment to
retake the exam. If an individual fails to pass the Series 50
exam three times in succession, the individual must wait
until 180-calendar days (six months) have elapsed from the
date the individual last failed the exam to retake the exam.
Importantly, an individual who has not passed the Series
50 exam is not permitted to engage in municipal advisory
activities.
Individuals who are not associated with a FINRA member
will enroll to take the Series 50 exam by completing and
submitting a Form U10 (Uniform Examination Request for
Non-FINRA Candidate Form). The online form is available
on FINRA’s website and can be accessed by clicking the
“enroll” button.3
Individuals who are associated with a municipal advisor
firm that is also a FINRA member firm will need to have
their firm enroll them to take the Series 50 exam via the
individual’s Form U4 (Uniform Application for Securities
Industry Registration or Transfer Form) to request the Series
50 exam by checking the “S50” box found under Section 7
(Examination Requests) of the Form U4.
Once the individual has successfully enrolled for the exam,
whether via the Form U10 or Form U4, a 120-calendarday exam enrollment window will open, during which
time the individual can schedule an appointment through
a Prometric testing center to take the Series 50 exam.
To schedule an appointment to take the Series 50 exam,
an individual should first review the list of test centers to
locate a convenient Prometric test center.
As provided in MSRB Rule G-3, the Series 50 qualification
is valid for two years from the date a recipient is no
longer associated with a municipal advisor firm. After the
two-year period, an individual would need to re-qualify
by passing the Series 50 exam in order to engage in
municipal advisory activities or to supervise the municipal
advisory activities of the municipal advisor firm and that
of its associated persons. As a reminder, qualification as
a municipal advisor representative is a prerequisite to
qualification as a municipal advisor principal.
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