Candidate Update

The CISI provides exam candidates with the very latest news and developments affecting exam syllabuses and learning materials, listed by programme.

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Please select the relevant exam programme from the following tabs:

International and Stand-alone

Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted
  • International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management V 5

    International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management V 5

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 2.3 – the last table has been amended to read:



    Multiple choice question number 69 – the correct answer has been amended to: ‘B’

    Multiple choice question number 70 – the correct answer has been amended to ‘B’ and the answer explanation reads:

    The forward rate in one year’s time will be based on the spot rate adjusted by the relative interest rates. The formula = spot rate x (1 + quote currency interest rate/ 1 + base currency rate) so the forward rate = 1.25 x (1.015/1.010) = 1.2562.

    Multiple choice question number 72 – the correct answer has been amended to: ‘D’

    Multiple choice question number 88 – the correct answer has been amended to: ‘B’

    Multiple choice question number 89 and the corresponding answer have been replaced with the following:

    89. Which ONE of the following statements relates to the strong form of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis?

    A. Future share prices can be predicted using historical share price data

    B. Share prices reflect all available information known or knowable about the companies in question

    C. Privately available information is not instantly reflected in share prices

    D. Investors do not always process freely available information accurately

    Answer: B

    EMH has a number of key assumptions and the strong form purports that share prices reflect all available information known or knowable about the security in question.

    Answer reference:  Chapter 7, Section 1.2

    Chapter 4, Section 1.3.5 has been amended to read:

    1.3.5 China Trust

    Main Differences Between China and Western Trusts

    The development of Western trusts or international trusts (also known as ‘real trust’) has always followed the origin of trust business due to its long history, developed economic system, sound legal system and corporate governance structure. Its origin refers to a private legal agreement between settlor and trustee. The settlor and beneficiary are different individuals. This helps achieve the effect of asset isolation protection and wealth inheritance of the trust.

    China Trust, founded in 1979, is a special non-bank wealth management system, which constitutes the four pillars of China’s finance sector together with banking, insurance and securities. China’s trust has developed for a short time and is limited by the imperfect economic environment and legal system and the shortage of talents. Compared with the UK and the US, China’s trust has become a financing and financial tool. It is different from international trusts: the majority of China’s trusts are self-interest trusts. This means that the trustor and the beneficiary are one person.

    China’s trust plan is essentially an investment fund in nature. However, most of the funds raised by fund companies are mainly invested in standardised securities such as stocks, bonds and futures, while trust funds are usually invested in entity enterprises, which is equivalent to lending.

    Trust products in China can also be regarded as a kind of debt income. Investors invest in financing parties through trust projects issued by trust companies. Within the period specified in the contract, a trust company repays the principal and interest income to the investor. This is similar to some fixed income financial products of the bank.

    In 2019, the scale of entrusted assets in China’s trust industry ranked second only to banks, surpassing securities, and insurance.

    The main investment directions of China trust plan are:

    1. Government infrastructure construction (eg, urban construction and road construction)
    2. Real estate (eg, commercial real estate and affordable housing construction)
    3. Industrial and commercial enterprise financing loans (eg, financing loans of listed companies)

    These are also the most common types of trust projects in China. Three main examples of trust products in China are provided below.

    Real Estate Trust  



    Infrastructure Construction Trust



    Commercial Enterprise Trust


    02/03/2021 - 01/03/2023
    16/08/2021
    Testing
  • International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management V6

    International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management V6

    The following update has been made:

    Chapter 2, pg 44

    Question numbers were amended to read in correct order.

    Chapter 3

    Pages headers have been amended to read “Asset Classes and Financial Markets”. 

    Chapter 3, pg 71

    In the example above of 2% US Treasury Bond 2041 which is priced at 78.12, the YTM will be higher than the flat yield, as the market price is lower than the bond’s par value and the bond will generate a capital gain if held to maturity. If, however, the market price was above par, then the YTM would be lower than the flat yield, as a capital loss would be made if the bond were held to maturity.

    Chapter 5, pg 214

    Section 7.1.2 was hidden by an example box, and the content now visible is as follows:
    7.1.2 Asset Turnover and Profit Margin 
    A more detailed analysis of ROCE can be undertaken by breaking this formula down further into two secondary ratios: asset turnover and profit margin. 
    Asset turnover looks at the relationship between sales and the capital employed in a business. It describes how efficiently a company is generating sales by looking at how hard a company’s assets are working. 
    Profit margin looks at how much profit is being made for each pound’s worth of sales. Clearly, the higher the profit margin, the better. 
    The relationship between ROCE and each of these can be shown as follows: 

    Formula


    02/03/2023 - 01/03/2025
    16/02/2023
    Testing
  • Global Financial Compliance V 10

    Global Financial Compliance V 10
    The following update has been made:

    Chapter 1:

    Pg 24

    Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD)
    …………………………. 5AMLD was adopted into European law in April 2018, to be implemented by member countries by October 2020. Further changes to 5AMLD have come into force in June 2021.

    Pg 57

    14. What are the additional changes made to 5AMLD that have come into force in June 2021?
    Answer reference: Section 1.5.4
    01/10/2022 - 30/09/2024
    06/09/2022
    Testing
  • Wealth and Investment Management (India) V2

    Wealth and Investment Management (India) V2

    We are withdrawing our Wealth and Investment Management (India) exam on 31 July 2023. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Support Team.


     

     
    28/02/2023 - 31/07/2023
    28/02/2023
    Testing
  • Technology in Investment Management V11

    Technology in Investment Management V11
    Technology in Investment Management V11

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 3.2.4, Example – Bonds’ text has been amended to read:

    The Cable and Wireless 4% Convertible Bond maturing 16 July 2025 last paid a coupon on 16 January 2020. On trade date 5 February 2020, for value date 7 February 2020, Investor A sells £100,000 face value of this bond to Investor B at a trade price of 96% of face value. Assuming that there are no commissions or fees, then the consideration that B has to pay A will be calculated as follows:

    Principal amount: £100,000 face value @ trade price 96%     £96,000.00
    Accrued interest: £100,000 face value x 4% for 22 days          £241.10
    Consideration                                                                            £96,241.10

    Chapter 2, Section 1.5, first bullet list’s second bullet point has been amended to read:

    • However, the TCA did not cover any provisions or rules for financial services. This meant that UK firms immediately lost their passporting rights to sell and support services from the UK into the EU from 31 December 2020 (23:00 GMT) onwards.
     
    Chapter 4, Section 3.2.2, second paragraph has been amended to read:

    These MiFID II requirements have been implemented by the FCA within Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) 11.2.14 to 11.2.18 inclusive.
     
    Chapter 4, Section 3.3.2, Example – More Complex Agency Trade’s alpha list’s third and eighth letter has been amended to read:

    c. 20 February – ABC sends a confirmation to DEF confirming that it has bought 500,000 Sony Corp on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at JPY6,450 per share, and giving details of the commission due and net proceeds payable by the investor on 22 February.

    h. 21 February – ABC sends a confirmation to DEF confirming that it has bought 500,000 Sony Corp on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at JPY 6,684 per share, and giving details of the commission due and net proceeds payable by the investor on 23 February.

    Chapter 4, Section 3.3.2, Example – Principal Trade’s text has been amended to read:

    ABC’s confirmation to Megabank:

    Trade date: 20 February
    Value date: 22 February

    Chapter 5, Section 1.4.2, table’s third row has been amended to read:

    CUSIP

    code

    A1234R56

    Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures (CUSIP) is the coding system used by exchanges and clearing houses in the US and Canada.

    North American markets only.

    Chapter 5, Section 1.4.3, Example table’s first row has been removed and has been amended to read:

    Instrument

    Quantity

    Price

    Price

    Multiplier

    Price Divisor

    Principal

    Amount

    Pound share

    1,000

    98

    1

    1

    98,000

    Bond

    1,000,000

    98

    1

    100

    980,000

    T-bond future

    10

    98

    1,000,000

    400

    2,450,000

    Chapter 5, Section 1.5.1, The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)’s second bullet list has been amended to read:

    The LEI is compiled as follows:
    • characters 1 to 4 identify the LOU that issued the LEI
    • characters 5 and 6 are reserved
    • characters 7 to 18 are the unique alphanumeric string assigned to the organisation by the LOU
    • the final two characters are checksum digits. 
     

    Chapter 6, Section 4.1.1, Definition has been amended to read:

    Definitions

    Accrual is an accounting term. It is defined as a method of accounting in which each item is entered as it is earned or incurred, regardless of when actual payments are received or made. Accrued interest is defined as the interest that has accumulated on a transaction since the last interest payment date or start date, up but not including the value date. 

    Chapter 6, Section 5.6’s title and first paragraph has been amended to read:

    5.6   Financial Information eXchange (FIX) Protocol

    The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol was initiated in 1992 by a group of institutions and brokers interested in streamlining their trading processes. It is an open message standard, controlled by no single entity, that can be structured to match the business requirements of each firm. At the time that the FIX protocol was founded, institutions and brokers that were not banks had only recently become eligible to join SWIFT, and the founding firms were not satisfied with the ISO 7775 securities messages that were then available on the SWIFT network.
     
    Chapter 6, Section 5.8, first paragraph has been amended to read:

    XBRL is an acronym for Extensible Business Reporting Language. This is an XML message standard for exchanging information about corporate data such as balance sheets and profit and loss accounts between the company concerned and its auditors, regulators, customers, research analysts and other interested parties. XBRL standards are compatible with ISO 20022.
     
    Chapter 8, Section 1.2.4, seventh paragraph has been amended to read:

    However, there are various software products that can be purchased that allow non-technical users to develop reports over a database (without the need to write complex SQL programs). The most common relational database products are ORACLE, IBM’s DB2, Sybase, Microsoft’s SQL-Server and the opensource product MySQL (which is now owned by ORACLE). 
     
    Chapter 8, Section 3.3.4, Level 3 – Service Specialists has been amended to read:

    Service specialists should normally be hidden from the user, letting the analysts handle interaction with the users. Knowing the identity of the level 3 service specialist of the day should not be necessary for the second level support, as second level resources should have an internal mechanism to escalate to the right person via impersonal email accounts or service boxes. When a specific problem with a service has been identified, the service specialists (level 3) should inform level 2 (analysts) of problem repercussions
    and the likely timescale for returning to a normal production environment.

    Any major anticipated system changes should be announced by the service specialists to the users and the second level analysts in a timescale according to the relevant rules, together with the documentation, tools and assistance to handle any additional questions.

    The time for service incidents being satisfied should be recorded and any incidents that took an unacceptable amount of time to be resolved might need to be recorded in a specific report to be reviewed by level 4 management. 

    Chapter 9, Section 4.3.1, third paragraph has been amended to read:

    The Guide recognises 44 processes that fall into five basic process groups and ten knowledge areas that are typical of almost all projects. The five process groups are:

    Glossary, FIX Protocol has been amended to read:

    FIX Protocol
    The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol was initiated in 1992 by a group of institutions and brokers interested in streamlining their trading processes. It is an open message standard controlled by no single entity, that can be structured to match the business requirements of each firm.
     

     


     

    11/05/2022 - 10/05/2023
    15/04/2022
    Testing
  • International Introduction to Securities & Investment V15

    International Introduction to Securities & Investment V15
    The following update has been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 2.1, bullet list, last bullet point has been amended to read:

    • In the Middle East, Tadawul – the Saudi Stock Exchange is the largest exchange, with a domestic market capitalisation of over US$2.5 trillion.
     

     
    10/09/2022 - 09/09/2023
    08/02/2023
    Testing
  • Fundamentals of Financial Services V5

    Fundamentals of Financial Services

    The following update has been made to your ebook edition.

    Chapter 2, Section 3, Exercise 2 – The table in the answer has changed to:

    Investments

    Risk ranking (where 1 is the highest risk and 6 the lowest risk)

    US government bonds

    6

    Equities issued by a start-up company

    2

    Equities issued by a large, well-established company

    3

    Bonds issued by a large, well-established company

    4

    Bonds issued in US dollars by a country with a stuttering economy and unstable government

    5

    Roulette wheel at a casino

    1

    01/08/2021 - 31/07/2023
    25/03/2022
    Testing

Level 3 IOC

Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted
  • UK Financial Regulation V30

    UK Financial Regulation V30
    01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024
    16/02/2023
    Testing
  • UK Financial Regulation V29

    UK Financial Regulation V29
    01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023
    08/02/2022
    Testing
  • Global Financial Compliance V 10

    Global Financial Compliance V 10
    The following update has been made:

    Chapter 1:

    Pg 24

    Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD)
    …………………………. 5AMLD was adopted into European law in April 2018, to be implemented by member countries by October 2020. Further changes to 5AMLD have come into force in June 2021.

    Pg 57

    14. What are the additional changes made to 5AMLD that have come into force in June 2021?
    Answer reference: Section 1.5.4
    01/10/2022 - 30/09/2024
    06/09/2022
    Testing
  • Platforms, Wealth Management & Service Providers V6

    Platforms, Wealth Management & Service Providers V6
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 2, Section 2.3.2 has been amended to read:

    Annual Allowance

    The annual allowance is the total amount that can be contributed to an individual’s pension scheme in a tax year while benefiting from tax relief. For the tax year 2021–22, the basic figure is £40,000 contributed from any sources (including contributions from the investor’s employer). As the ability of a person to save for their pension can vary from year to year – and because some employers’ defined benefit (DB) schemes might make substantial contributions to staff members who receive a promotion in the closing years of their career – the pension rules permit an individual to carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This can be useful to the investor, although it gives rise to administrative complexity for the pension scheme.

    There are also circumstances in which a lower limit may apply. For example, some individuals earning more than £240,000 are subject to a tapering adjustment. The specific calculation is complex and outside the scope of this workbook, as it requires the calculation of fours separate values of income and savings. Where those calculations result in an individual being subject to a tapering adjustment, their £40,000 annual allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of ‘adjusted income’ earned above the £240,000 threshold. However, this tapering is capped, so that the minimum value of annual allowance is £4,000.

    If the investor is aged 55 or over, and has already started to take benefits from their pension savings, their annual allowance is reduced to £4,000 (to prevent the investor from taking the pension savings and recontributing the same money in order to increase the tax benefit).

    While pension schemes continue to refer to a ‘pension input period’ against which pension contributions are assessed for tax purposes, the pension input period for all schemes has been aligned with the tax year. The sum contributed during a given pension input period is known as the pension input amount. When an investor wants to check if they have exceeded their annual allowance they must sum the pension input amounts for that tax year across all pension schemes of which they are a member.
    01/05/2022 - 20/11/2023
    12/07/2022
    Testing
  • Global Securities Operations

    Global Securities Operations (Ed17)
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 11 has been amended to read:

    So if a broker-dealer receives a customer order to purchase 500 shares of ABC Corporation at US$100
    per share, the broker-dealer would execute the order for 500 shares of ABC Corporation at US$100 per
    share by buying it from a seller in the market. Since both transactions were executed at exactly the same
    terms, this would be classified as riskless principal transaction.
    Note that the customer, however, would typically have to pay commissions to the broker-dealer, unless
    the commissions had been waived (which may be the case in certain commission-free trading platforms).

    Chapter 4, section 8, last subheading has been amended to read:

    First Green UK Savings Bond
    In 2021, the government-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I) launched its first green bond with a fixed rate of 0.65% over three years.

    Proceeds earned on the bonds will be used to fund government projects, such as green transport infrastructure, renewable energy and pollution prevention. 

    Chapter 6, section 1.4, a new subheading has been added after the last paragraph to read:

    Systematic risk underlies virtually all investment.

    Liquidity Risk
    Liquidity risk is a financial risk concerning how easily a security or financial asset (including investment funds) can be traded quickly, especially when selling an asset to realise cash. It also refers to the ability to sell an asset without impacting the market price. 

    For investment funds, liquidity is generally seen as the ability for the fund to fulfil redemption orders as requested. Authorised funds and those that are less complex would generally carry less liquidity risk, ie, if an asset has a lack of liquidity depth, there is a risk that the price will move significantly, eg, a sale is attempted.
    01/07/2022 - 30/06/2023
    06/06/2022
    Testing
  • Transfer Agency Administration and Oversight V1

    Transfer Agency Administration and Oversight V1
    The current Transfer Agency Administration and Oversight exam has been extended to 10th November 2023.
     
    25/10/2022 - 10/11/2023
    25/10/2022
    Testing
  • Introduction to Securities & Investment V22

    Introduction to Securities & Investment V22

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 3, Section 7.2.2’s table has been amended to read:

    AIM

    Full Listing

    No trading history required; the company could be newly established.

    Three years’ trading history is needed.

     

    No minimum market capitalisation required.

    £30m is the minimum market cap.

    No requirement for a minimum proportion of the shares to be held by the ‘public’.

    At least 10% of the shares must be held by outside investors.

     

     

    Chapter 4, Section 4.4, a table has been inserted to read:

    Distinguishing Features of Domestic, Foreign and Eurobonds

    Type of Bond

    Issuer

    Currency

    Market

    Domestic bonds

    UK

    GBP

    UK

    Foreign bonds

    UK

    USD

    US

    Eurobonds

    UK

    GBP (or any currency other than USD will be termed as eurobonds)

    US

    Chapter 6, Section 6.3, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)’s third paragraph has been amended to read:

    ICE Futures Europe is the leading energy futures and options exchange and is a subsidiary of ICE. ICE’s products include derivative contracts based on key energy commodities: crude oil and refined oil products, such as heating oil and jet fuel and other products, like natural gas and electric power. With the acquisition of LIFFE, its range of tradeable products expanded to include futures and options on bonds, equities and indices.

    Chapter 7, Section 4.3’s fourth paragraph has been amended to read:

    Settlement currently takes place directly with each fund group. For purchases, once the investment has been made and the amount invested has been received, the fund group will record ownership of the relevant number of units or shares in the fund’s share register. When the investor decides to sell, they need to instruct the fund manager (or ask their adviser or the supermarket to instruct the fund manager), who then has four days (T+4) from receipt of the instruction and necessary paperwork in which to settle the sale and remit the proceeds to the investor. Traditionally, this instruction had to be in writing but, since 2009, managers have been able to accept instruction via the internet or over the telephone, using appropriate security checks.

    Chapter 8, Section 2.2.3’s third paragraph has been amended to read:

    Bribery is a criminal offence and penalties include a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment, unlimited fines, confiscation of proceeds, debarment from public sector contracts and director disqualification.

    The Glossary has been amended to read:

    Basic Rate (of Income Tax)

    Rate of tax (currently 20%) charged on income that is below the higher-rate tax threshold.


    MCQs, Answer no.33 has been amended to read:

    33.                      D                            Chapter 8, Section 2.1


     
    01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023
    20/07/2022
    Testing
  • Technology in Investment Management V11

    Technology in Investment Management V11
    Technology in Investment Management V11

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 3.2.4, Example – Bonds’ text has been amended to read:

    The Cable and Wireless 4% Convertible Bond maturing 16 July 2025 last paid a coupon on 16 January 2020. On trade date 5 February 2020, for value date 7 February 2020, Investor A sells £100,000 face value of this bond to Investor B at a trade price of 96% of face value. Assuming that there are no commissions or fees, then the consideration that B has to pay A will be calculated as follows:

    Principal amount: £100,000 face value @ trade price 96%     £96,000.00
    Accrued interest: £100,000 face value x 4% for 22 days          £241.10
    Consideration                                                                            £96,241.10

    Chapter 2, Section 1.5, first bullet list’s second bullet point has been amended to read:

    • However, the TCA did not cover any provisions or rules for financial services. This meant that UK firms immediately lost their passporting rights to sell and support services from the UK into the EU from 31 December 2020 (23:00 GMT) onwards.
     
    Chapter 4, Section 3.2.2, second paragraph has been amended to read:

    These MiFID II requirements have been implemented by the FCA within Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) 11.2.14 to 11.2.18 inclusive.
     
    Chapter 4, Section 3.3.2, Example – More Complex Agency Trade’s alpha list’s third and eighth letter has been amended to read:

    c. 20 February – ABC sends a confirmation to DEF confirming that it has bought 500,000 Sony Corp on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at JPY6,450 per share, and giving details of the commission due and net proceeds payable by the investor on 22 February.

    h. 21 February – ABC sends a confirmation to DEF confirming that it has bought 500,000 Sony Corp on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at JPY 6,684 per share, and giving details of the commission due and net proceeds payable by the investor on 23 February.

    Chapter 4, Section 3.3.2, Example – Principal Trade’s text has been amended to read:

    ABC’s confirmation to Megabank:

    Trade date: 20 February
    Value date: 22 February

    Chapter 5, Section 1.4.2, table’s third row has been amended to read:

    CUSIP

    code

    A1234R56

    Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures (CUSIP) is the coding system used by exchanges and clearing houses in the US and Canada.

    North American markets only.

    Chapter 5, Section 1.4.3, Example table’s first row has been removed and has been amended to read:

    Instrument

    Quantity

    Price

    Price

    Multiplier

    Price Divisor

    Principal

    Amount

    Pound share

    1,000

    98

    1

    1

    98,000

    Bond

    1,000,000

    98

    1

    100

    980,000

    T-bond future

    10

    98

    1,000,000

    400

    2,450,000

    Chapter 5, Section 1.5.1, The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)’s second bullet list has been amended to read:

    The LEI is compiled as follows:
    • characters 1 to 4 identify the LOU that issued the LEI
    • characters 5 and 6 are reserved
    • characters 7 to 18 are the unique alphanumeric string assigned to the organisation by the LOU
    • the final two characters are checksum digits. 
     

    Chapter 6, Section 4.1.1, Definition has been amended to read:

    Definitions

    Accrual is an accounting term. It is defined as a method of accounting in which each item is entered as it is earned or incurred, regardless of when actual payments are received or made. Accrued interest is defined as the interest that has accumulated on a transaction since the last interest payment date or start date, up but not including the value date. 

    Chapter 6, Section 5.6’s title and first paragraph has been amended to read:

    5.6   Financial Information eXchange (FIX) Protocol

    The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol was initiated in 1992 by a group of institutions and brokers interested in streamlining their trading processes. It is an open message standard, controlled by no single entity, that can be structured to match the business requirements of each firm. At the time that the FIX protocol was founded, institutions and brokers that were not banks had only recently become eligible to join SWIFT, and the founding firms were not satisfied with the ISO 7775 securities messages that were then available on the SWIFT network.
     
    Chapter 6, Section 5.8, first paragraph has been amended to read:

    XBRL is an acronym for Extensible Business Reporting Language. This is an XML message standard for exchanging information about corporate data such as balance sheets and profit and loss accounts between the company concerned and its auditors, regulators, customers, research analysts and other interested parties. XBRL standards are compatible with ISO 20022.
     
    Chapter 8, Section 1.2.4, seventh paragraph has been amended to read:

    However, there are various software products that can be purchased that allow non-technical users to develop reports over a database (without the need to write complex SQL programs). The most common relational database products are ORACLE, IBM’s DB2, Sybase, Microsoft’s SQL-Server and the opensource product MySQL (which is now owned by ORACLE). 
     
    Chapter 8, Section 3.3.4, Level 3 – Service Specialists has been amended to read:

    Service specialists should normally be hidden from the user, letting the analysts handle interaction with the users. Knowing the identity of the level 3 service specialist of the day should not be necessary for the second level support, as second level resources should have an internal mechanism to escalate to the right person via impersonal email accounts or service boxes. When a specific problem with a service has been identified, the service specialists (level 3) should inform level 2 (analysts) of problem repercussions
    and the likely timescale for returning to a normal production environment.

    Any major anticipated system changes should be announced by the service specialists to the users and the second level analysts in a timescale according to the relevant rules, together with the documentation, tools and assistance to handle any additional questions.

    The time for service incidents being satisfied should be recorded and any incidents that took an unacceptable amount of time to be resolved might need to be recorded in a specific report to be reviewed by level 4 management. 

    Chapter 9, Section 4.3.1, third paragraph has been amended to read:

    The Guide recognises 44 processes that fall into five basic process groups and ten knowledge areas that are typical of almost all projects. The five process groups are:

    Glossary, FIX Protocol has been amended to read:

    FIX Protocol
    The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol was initiated in 1992 by a group of institutions and brokers interested in streamlining their trading processes. It is an open message standard controlled by no single entity, that can be structured to match the business requirements of each firm.
     

     


     

    11/05/2022 - 10/05/2023
    15/04/2022
    Testing
  • International Introduction to Securities & Investment V15

    International Introduction to Securities & Investment V15
    The following update has been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 2.1, bullet list, last bullet point has been amended to read:

    • In the Middle East, Tadawul – the Saudi Stock Exchange is the largest exchange, with a domestic market capitalisation of over US$2.5 trillion.
     

     
    10/09/2022 - 09/09/2023
    08/02/2023
    Testing
  • Derivatives V22

    Derivatives V22
    Derivatives (Ed18)

    The following update has been made:

    Chapter 5, Section 3
    Page 135

    In the above example, the margin applied to the spot rate is a discount to the traded (quoted) currency – euros. A discount indicates that the base currency (sterling, in the above example) is becoming less expensive relative to the euro. As a result, the forward points are subtracted from the spot rate, so that in the forward deal the pound will buy less euros (the bid column), and the euro holder will have to pay less to get the same number of pounds (the ask column). Again, the reason for this is based on the fact that sterling interest rates are higher than the corresponding euro interest rates. The opposite is true for currencies at a premium.

    Chapter 3

    Pg91 – deleted and replaced by the “End of Chapter Questions”.

    An unrequired page containing the “Appendix” owing to an error while updating Chapter has been deleted. 
     

    11/10/2022 - 10/10/2023
    22/07/2022
    Testing

Level 3 Certificates

Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted
  • UK Financial Regulation V30

    UK Financial Regulation V30
    01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024
    16/02/2023
    Testing
  • UK Financial Regulation V29

    UK Financial Regulation V29
    01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023
    08/02/2022
    Testing
  • Securities (Capital Markets Programme)

    Securities (Capital Markets Programme) Ed 17
    Chapter 4, section 3.1, page 117

    The expected market capitalisation of the company should be at least £700,000 for the company’s shares to be listed.

    At least 25% of the company’s shares should be in public hands, or be available for public purchase.

    In order to reflect updated market regulation the above has been amended to the following:

    The expected market capitalisation of the company should be at least £30 million for the company’s shares to be listed.

    At least 10% of the company’s shares should be in public hands, or be available for public purchase.

    Please note the following amendments to the figures in the example table in Chapter 2, Section 2.2.2. (p.24)

    Stock Name

    Redemption

    Price

    Flat Yield

    GRY

    7.625% Treasury

    5 years

    120

    6.35%

    3.23%

    6.875% Treasury

    5 years

    116

    5.93%

    3.35%

     

     

     

     

     

    22/03/2022 - 21/03/2023
    03/05/2022
    Testing
  • Corporate Finance Technical Foundations V12

    Corporate Finance Technical Foundations V12

    The following update has been made to your ebook edition.

    Chapter 1, Section 1 - The first numbered list has been amended as shown below:

    The key principles of financial mathematics (or quantitative methods) can be summarised in the following three aphorisms:

    1. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
    2. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
    3. There's no such thing as a free lunch. 
    11/04/2022 - 10/04/2023
    25/03/2022
    Testing
  • Securities (Capital Markets Programme) Ed 18

    Securities (Capital Markets Programme) Ed 18
    Securities (Capital Markets Programme) (Ed18)

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 2, section 2.6, The present value of a bond, from the third paragraph amended to read:

    To arrive at the present value of a single sum, receivable after n years, when the prevailing rate of interest is r, simply multiply the lump sum by the following:

    1/(1 + r)n

    Referring back to the earlier example, $100 receivable in one year’s time, given an interest rate of 5%, will have a present value of:

    $100 x 1/(1+r)n = $100 x 1/(1+0.05)1 = $100 x 1/1.05 = $100 x 0.9524 = $95.24

    If $100 was due to be received in two years’ time, then the present value will be:

    $100 x 1/(1+r)2 = $100 x 1/(1.05)2 = $100 x 1/1.1025 = $100 x 0.907 = $90.70

    Present value calculations can also be used to derive the price of a bond, given the appropriate rate of interest and the cash flows.

    Chapter 5, section 4, under the sub section 4.1 Stock Market Indices the table row of Deutscher Aktien IndeX (DAX)  is amended to read:

    Deutscher Aktien IndeX (DAX)

     
    Chapter 1, under the End of Chapter questions, the third answer option of the question number 8 is amended to read:

    • Custodian banks
     

    Chapter 7, under the End of Chapter questions, the Answer reference of the question number 10 is amended to read:

    Answer reference: Section 9.4

    Chapter 8, the learning objective under the section 6.5 Investors’ Ratios is amended to read:

    8.6.7     Be able to calculate the following investors’ ratios: earnings per share (including diluted earnings per share); price earnings ratio (both historic and prospective); gross dividend yield; gross dividend cover; enterprise value to EBIT; enterprise value to EBITDA; earnings per share; diluted earnings per share
     
    Chapter 8, under the End of Chapter questions, the Question number 7 is amended to read:

     7. How does a non-controlling interest arise?
     
    The SLM, under the element 8 – Accounting Analysis, LO 8.1.2 is added to read: 

    8.1.2                 know the five components of a financial statement 
     

    22/01/2023 - 21/01/2024
    02/02/2023
    Testing
  • Derivatives V22

    Derivatives V22
    Derivatives (Ed18)

    The following update has been made:

    Chapter 5, Section 3
    Page 135

    In the above example, the margin applied to the spot rate is a discount to the traded (quoted) currency – euros. A discount indicates that the base currency (sterling, in the above example) is becoming less expensive relative to the euro. As a result, the forward points are subtracted from the spot rate, so that in the forward deal the pound will buy less euros (the bid column), and the euro holder will have to pay less to get the same number of pounds (the ask column). Again, the reason for this is based on the fact that sterling interest rates are higher than the corresponding euro interest rates. The opposite is true for currencies at a premium.

    Chapter 3

    Pg91 – deleted and replaced by the “End of Chapter Questions”.

    An unrequired page containing the “Appendix” owing to an error while updating Chapter has been deleted. 
     

    11/10/2022 - 10/10/2023
    22/07/2022
    Testing

Publications & Elearning

Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted

Qualifications Bulletin

The bulletin is a quarterly email sent to all interested parties to provide an update on key areas relating to qualifications.

You can view past bulletins below and if you would like to receive the bulletin regularly please login to My CISI and set your email preference to opt in.

Narrative


Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted
  • Advanced Financial Planning V3 and V4

    Advanced Financial Planning V3 and V4
    For the March and September 2023 Advanced Financial Planning exams, questions will be based on the 2022-2023 tax rates.

    The following update has been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 5, Section 4.4.2 has been amended to read:

    Caution is advised when using this model as its value is only as good as its inputs. The dividend per share will be known and the cost of equity or shareholders’ required return can be calculated using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The issue that many critics have of this model is in relation to the dividend growth rate. The model assumes that a constant dividend growth rate applies into perpetuity. This may not necessarily be the case. In addition, where the growth has been estimated using the historical growth rate in dividends, care must be taken to ensure that the sample used shows a stable trend in dividends. Further, historical growth may not necessarily apply to the future. Finally, what if the company is not paying a dividend? Does this imply that the share is worthless?
    Share price (intrinsic value)=(£2.50 x 1.15)/((0.13 – 0.15) )= -£143.75
    Obviously, this is unrealistic in practice, since a share cannot have a negative value.

    Chapter 8, Section 2.2.1, the table’s second row, right column, first paragraph has been amended to read:

    Spouse/civil partner takes £270,000 + half of the residue absolutely and all personal chattels, such as furniture, cars, pictures and clothes

     
    02/01/2023 - 10/09/2023
    09/09/2022
    Testing
  • Financial Plan Case Study V3

    Financial Plan Case Study V3
    22/12/2021 - next edition
    22/12/2021
    Testing
  • All Winter 2022 and Summer 2023 narrative exams

    Corporate Finance Techniques & Theory V9
    Corporate Finance Strategy & Advice V9
    Regulation & Compliance V9
    Pension Transfers & Planning Advice V5 & V6
    Bonds & Fixed Interest Markets
    Financial Derivatives
    Private Client Investment Advice & Management V8 & V9
    Financial Markets V10 & V11
    Portfolio Construction Theory V8 & V9
    Applied Wealth Management V8 & V9
    Global Operations Management V7 & V8
    For the November/December 2022 and the June 2023 narrative exams, questions will be based on the 2022-2023 tax rates.
    29/11/2022 - 09/06/2023
    06/09/2022
    Testing
  • Regulation & Compliance V9

    Regulation & Compliance V9
    The following update has been made to your workbook edition. 

    Chapter 6, End of Chapter Questions – the following text has been removed:

    End of Chapter Questions

    Think of an answer to each question and refer to the appropriate section for confirmation.

    1. What is the meaning of ‘compliance risk’?
                Answer Reference: Section 1
    2. What is meant by the compliance function being independent?
                Answer Reference: Section 1.3, 1.5 and Guideline 8
    3. Why should a firm have a compliance monitoring programme, what is its purpose and aim?
                Answer Reference: Section 1.5 and Guideline 2
    4. What is the purpose of mandatory compliance reports?
                Answer Reference: Section 1.5 and Guideline 3
    5. What CISI Code of Conduct principle is where the key stakeholder is the client?
                Answer Reference: Section 2.4.1
    Chapter 2, Section 15.4.12 – this text has been amended to include:

    Cryptoassets 
    A cryptoasset is understood to be a digital representation of value or contractual rights that can be transferred, stored or traded electronically, and which may (though does not necessarily) utilise cryptography, distributed ledger technology or similar technology. The term ‘token’ is used interchangeably with ‘cryptoasset’ hereafter.

    Cryptoassets could fulfil a diverse set of functions, ranging from the trading of digital collectibles to raising capital for new projects. No internationally agreed taxonomy or classification of cryptoassets exists. In 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its ‘Guidance on Cryptoassets’ which described the following broad categories of token in relation to how they fit within existing FCA regulation: e-money tokens, security tokens and unregulated tokens.

    • e-money tokens meet the definition of electronic money in the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs) – broadly, digital payment instruments that store value, can be redeemed at par value, at any time and offer holders a direct claim on the issuer 
    • security tokens have characteristics akin to specified investments, like a share or a debt instrument, as set out in UK legislation. Broadly, these are likely to be tokenised, digital forms of traditional securities. As with e-money tokens, these are already within the UK’s regulatory perimeter and therefore subject to FCA regulation 
    • unregulated tokens are neither e-money tokens nor security tokens and include: 
     utility tokens – tokens used to buy a service, or access a DLT platform – this could, for example, include access to online cloud storage, and 
     exchange tokens – tokens that are primarily used as a means of exchange – this includes widely known cryptoassets such as Bitcoin, Ether and XRP.

    The term ‘stablecoins’ is an evolution of cryptoassets, which seek to minimise volatility in value. Depending on design, stablecoins currently fall into any of the categories set out above – though are currently more likely to be unregulated exchange tokens or e-money tokens. Stablecoins aim to maintain stability in their price, typically in relation to stable assets such as fiat currency. Examples include Tether, Paxos or USD coin.

    In 2019, the FCA published a consultation on prohibiting the sale to retail clients in investment products that references cryptoassets. 

    The FCA published a policy statement with final rules in October 2020, prohibiting the marketing, distribution and sale in or from the UK to retail clients, of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that reference certain types of unregulated transferable cryptoassets. 

    In July 2020, HM Treasury published a consultation on the promotion of cryptoassets. The consultation sought industry views on a proposal to bring the promotion of certain types of cryptoassets within the scope of financial promotions regulation. The intention being to enhance consumer protection, while continuing to promote responsible innovation. This consultation closed in October 2020.

    The government has identified that many of the unregulated cryptoassets expose consumers to unacceptable levels of risk. The following are three areas that they see as priority for action to be taken: 

    • consumer protection
    • financial crime. and
    • market integrity.

    The HM Treasury made a statement on 18 January 2022 that they are planning to strengthen the rules on cryptocurrency advertisements and protect consumers from misleading claims. The statement lists the following:
    • the government plans to legislate to address misleading cryptoassets promotions
    • adverts will be brought into line with other financial advertising, ensuring they are fair and clear
    • new rules will increase consumer protection while encouraging innovation.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated:

    ‘Cryptoassets can provide exciting new opportunities, offering people new ways to transact and invest – but it’s important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims. We are ensuring consumers are protected, while also supporting innovation of the cryptoasset market.’

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently published a webpage with advice on adverts for ‘Cryptosassets’. The webpage provides advice for advertisers, and includes recent case law examples:

    • Regulation of cryptoassets
     clearly stating that they are not regulated by the FCA and do not fall under the FSCS or the FOS
     including recent case law where adverts did not make it clear that the product was not regulated in the UK, ruling that these adverts should have included a statement to the effect that made this clear.
    • Do not take advantage of consumers’ inexperience or credulity.
    • Include all relevant material.
    • Make clear that the value can go down as well as up.
    • State the basis used to calculate any projections or forecasts.
    • Make clear that past performance is not a guide for future performance.

    [source of information: ASA website www.asa.org.uk]

    In February 2022, the Financial Stability board (FSB) published a paper titled “Assessment of risk to Financial stability from Crypto-assets”, providing an updated assessment on the risks from cryptoassets to financial stability.

    The report focuses on vulnerabilities relating to three segments of the cryptoasset markets:

    • unbacked cryptoassets (such as Bitcoin),
    • stablecoins, and
    • decentralised finance (DeFi) and cryptoasset trading platforms.

    The FSB concluded that cryptoassest markets are fast evolving and that, at some point in the future, they could pose a threat to global financial stability. In addition, due to their evolution and international nature of these markets, they could bring about the potential for regulatory gaps, fragmentation or arbitrage. 

    Areas the FSB identified for ongoing vigilance include:

    • Potential increasing bank sector involvement in the cryptoasset eco-system, especially where activities give rise to balance sheet exposure to cryptoassets, not captured by (or not in compliance with) appropriate regulatory treatment. 
    • Institutional investors increasing their exposures to cryptoassets relative to the size of their portfolios. Risks could increase further if such exposures employ high levels of leverage, including through the use of derivatives referencing cryptoassets. 
    • Acceleration in adoption of cryptoassets for payments. This could happen via partnerships with established payment firms or retailers/social networks. 
    • The growth, role and risks associated with cryptoasset trading platforms. Losses in cryptoassets, where accompanied by leverage, liquidity mismatch and interconnections with the traditional financial system, may amplify systemic risk arising from wealth effects. Loss of confidence in stablecoins could also trigger sales of their reserve assets, potentially affecting the functioning of short-term funding markets.
    • A rapid growth of DeFi, in the absence of clearly identifiable intermediaries or parties responsible for governance, challenges core financial (stability) regulatory and supervisory disciplines and doctrines. Differing regulatory approaches could lead to regulatory arbitrage, thus increasing potential systemic risks. 
    • Data gaps impeding risk assessment and calibration of policy options.

    The FSB noted that they will continue to monitor developments and risks in cryptoasset markets, explore potential regulatory and supervisory implications of unbacked cryptoassets, including actions jurisdictions have taken, or plan to take, to address financial stability during 2022. 

    They will also continue to monitor and share information on regulatory and supervisory approaches to ensure effective implementation of their high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of “global stablecoin” arrangements.

    [source of information – FSB website www.fsb.org] 
    15/06/2022 - 06/06/2023
    15/02/2022
    Testing
  • Bond & Fixed Interest Markets

    Bond & Fixed Interest Markets
    We are withdrawing our Bond and Fixed Interest Markets exam in the winter 2023 session. It is strongly recommended the final sitting on 28 November 2023 is for resits only and not for first time candidates. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Support Team. 


    08/09/2022 - 28/11/2023
    08/09/2022
    Testing
  • Financial Derivatives

    Financial Derivatives
    We are withdrawing our Financial Derivatives exam in the summer 2023 session. It is strongly recommended the final sitting on 6 June 2023 is for resits only and not for first time candidates. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Support Team. 


    08/09/2022 - 06/06/2023
    08/09/2022
    Testing
  • Advanced Global Securities Operations V9

    Advanced Global Securities Operations V9
    We are withdrawing our Advanced Global Securities Operations exam in the winter 2023 session. It is strongly recommended the final sitting on 30 November 2023 is for resits only and not for first time candidates. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Support Team. 


    08/09/2022 - 30/11/2023
    08/09/2022
    Testing
  • Portfolio Construction Theory V10

    Portfolio Construction Theory V10 
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, section 6.5, Table 1.9 – Example Stock Index Monthly Prices, Return and Risk Calculations, the Monthly Variance row amended to read:

    313.51/12 = 26.13
     
    Chapter 1, section 6.5, Annualised risk equation amended to read:Formula
    Chapter 1, section 6.9.2, under ‘Combining Assets and Calculating the Portfolio Standard Deviation’ Portfolio Value equation amended to read:
    Formula
    08/06/2023 - 30/11/2023
    18/01/2023
    Testing
  • Level 6 Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice and Management V9

    Level 6 Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice and Management V9 

    The following update has been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 2, Section 3.6.5, the first case study has been amended to read:

    Tax on dividends:

    After applying the dividend allowance, £1,000 of Sandra’s dividend is subject to income tax at the higher rate.

    Higher rate band (next £1,000) @ 33.75%     £337.50

    The total tax due is now £8,283.50. You can see, therefore, that saving into a pension has saved Sandra £1,135 (ie, £8,283.50 – £7,148.50) of income tax for the 2022–23 tax year, and she has benefitted from growing her pension fund for retirement in a tax-free environment.

    Chapter 2, Section 3.4.5, first bullet list’s third bullet point has been amended to read:

    • Their partner’s annual income is between £12,571 and £50,270 (ie, a basic rate taxpayer).

    Chapter 1, Section 8.1.5, first paragraph and bullet list has been amended to read:

    The FCA is empowered under FSMA 2000 to prosecute under CJA 1993. The maximum penalties are:
    • Crown Court (conviction on indictment) – ten years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
    • Magistrates’ Court (summary conviction) – six months’ imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine.
     
     
    07/06/2023 - 29/11/2023
    01/02/2023
    Testing
  • Pension Transfers & Planning Advice V 1

    Pension Transfers & Planning Advice V 1
    16/05/2018 - 31/12/2025
    16/05/2018
    Testing
  • Applied Wealth Management V9

    Applied Wealth Management V9

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 2, Section 3.4.4 Risk Descriptions, after Low-Mid Risk the table of Investor Risk Appetites added and amended to read:

    Mid Risk

    • Understand that they have to take investment risk to meet their long-term goals. They are often more willing to take risks with at least part of their available assets and may have some experience of investment, including investing in products containing higher-risk assets such as equities and bonds.
    • They can usually make up their minds on financial matters relatively quickly, but they still suffer from some feelings of regret when their decisions turn out badly.
    • Investors with time horizons of ten years or more typically have portfolios with a mix of higher risk investments such as equities and lower risk investments, such as bonds and cash.

     

    Mid-High Risk

     

     

    • Willing to take on investment risk and understand the nature of the long-term risk/return trade off. They are willing to take risk with most of their available assets, are typically experienced investors and have used a range of investment products in the past.
    • They will usually be able to make up their minds on financial matters quite quickly. While they can suffer from regret when their decisions turn out badly, they can accept that occasional poor outcomes are a necessary part of long-term investment.
    • Investors with time horizons of ten years or more typically have portfolios with a majority of higher risk investments such as equities, but that also contain bonds and cash.

     

     

    High Risk

     

     

    • Want the highest possible return on their capital and are willing to take considerable amounts of risk to achieve this.
    • They are usually willing to take risk with all of their available assets, and have substantial amounts of investment experience.
    • High risk investors have firm investment views and will make up their minds on financial matters quickly. They do not suffer from regret to any great extent and can accept occasional poor outcomes without much difficulty.
    • Investors with time horizons of ten years or more typically have portfolios made up primarily of higher-risk investments such as equities, with little in bonds and cash.

     

    08/06/2023 - 30/11/2023
    20/02/2023
    Testing
  • Diploma in Corporate Finance: Corporate Finance Strategy & Advice V 1a

    Diploma in Corporate Finance: Corporate Finance Strategy & Advice V 1a
    Corporate Finance Strategy & Advice

    Please note the following change to the exam rubric for this paper applicable from the December 2013 sitting onwards.

    The December exam will start at 13:00 and candidates will receive both the Information Booklet and the Question Paper. They will not receive the Answer Book.

    At 13:55 Answer Books will be circulated, then from 14:00, once candidates have been instructed to do so, candidates may open their answer books and begin writing. They will then have 3 hours to complete the exam and will finish at 17:00.

    This change will be reflected on the examination paper as follows:
    Part 1: Time allowed: 1 Hour

    Candidates will be provided with an Information Booklet and the examination question paper. Candidates have one hour in which to review the information booklet and questions. During this time, candidates may annotate the information book. The examination has been prepared on the assumption that candidates will not have any detailed knowledge of the type of company or sector to which it refers. No additional merit will be accorded to those candidates displaying such knowledge.
    Part 2: Time allowed: 3 Hours

    The Answer Book will be distributed at 1.55 pm and candidates should open and begin writing in the answer book when instructed at 2.00 pm.
    The syllabus has now been updated for 2014.

    Corporate Finance Strategy and Advice Ed1 Addendum October 2021
    02/09/2013 - ongoing
    17/10/2013
     
    Testing
  • Diploma in Corporate Finance: Corporate Finance Techniques & Theory V 1a

    Diploma in Corporate Finance: Corporate Finance Techniques & Theory V 1a
    Corporate Finance Techniques & Theory

    Please note the following change to the examination rubric for this paper applicable from the December 2013 sitting onwards.
    There has been an adjustment to the number of question options between the June 2013 sitting and the December 2013 sitting. For the December 2013 Sitting paper onwards:
    SECTION A – FIVE questions in this section are to be answered (Same as June 2013)
    SECTION B – BOTH questions in this section are to be answered (rather than TWO out of THREE Questions)
    The syllabus has now been updated for 2014.
    02/09/2013 - ongoing
    17/10/2013
    Testing
  • Financial Markets Edition 10

    Financial Markets Edition 10
     

    The Financial Markets workbook edition 10 has been updated to reflect the following changes:

    Chapter 1, section 3.1.2, p.39, Return on Equity (ROE) -

    ROE (%) = Net income / Shareholders' equity

    Chapter 1, Section 3.1.2, p.39-40, Asset Turnover -

    An alternative way of calculating the asset turnover is as follows:

    Asset turnover (x) = Revenue / Average total assets

    where ‘average total assets’ is the average value of the assets at the beginning and the end of the period under analysis. This can be used instead of capital employed, since the value of the assets recorded on a company’s statement of financial position can change over time.

    Chapter 1, Section 3.1.2, p.41, DuPont Analysis
    Du Pont Analysis 

    Learning Outcome 2

    2.3        Appy the following profitability ratios:

    • Return on capital employed
    • Gross and net profit margins
    • Asset turnover and gearing
    • Return on Equity
    07/06/2023 - 29/11/2023 
    17/02/2023
    Testing

Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma

Exam Name & Syllabus version
Update/Development
Action Effective From/To
Date Posted
  • Economics and Markets for Wealth Management V2

    Economics and Markets for Wealth Management V2

    The following update has been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 3, Section 1.4.5 - The calculation under ‘Real Returns’ has been amended as shown below:



    Chapter 4, section 5.3 – The table has been amended as shown below:

    Chapter 4, section 7.3.2 – The table has been amended as shown below:



    Chapter 6, section 5.5.3 – The following calculations have been amended as shown below:

      

    21/12/2021 - 20/12/2023
    12/04/2022
    Testing
  • UK Regulation & Professional Integrity V15

    UK Regulation & Professional Integrity V15

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 9, Section 1.2 - FOS Awards, the last two bullets of the complaints limits amended to read:

    • £170,000 for complaints about acts or omissions by firms before 1 April 2019, and which are referred to the service after 1 April 2022.
    • £160,000 for complaints about acts or omissions by firms before 1 April 2019, and which are referred to the service after 1 April 2020 but before 1 April 2022.

     

     

    12/03/2023 - 11/03/2024
    21/02/2023
    Testing
  • UK Regulation & Professional Integrity V14

    UK Regulation & Professional Integrity V14

    The following amendment has been made to Chapter 10, Section 3.5.1, sub bullet point 2

    • the size of the client’s financial portfolio exceeds €500,000 (defined as including cash deposits and financial instruments)

    Chapter 10, Section 4.1.7– this text has been amended to read:

    Firms must provide retail clients with information on the costs and charges to which they will be subject in respect of both investment services and/or financial instruments, including ancillary services (MiFID II applied these requirements to ECPs and professional clients, however this was removed by HM Treasury from July 2021 as part of the UK’s MiFID Quick fix package).

    Relevant costs and charges include:

     • the total price to be paid, including all related fees, commissions, charges and expenses and any taxes payable via the firm

    • if these cannot be indicated at the time, the basis on which they will be calculated so that the client can verify them

    • the commissions charged by the firm must be itemised separately in every case

    • if the above are to be paid in a foreign currency, what currency is involved and the conversion rates and costs

    • if other costs and taxes not paid or imposed by the firm could be applicable, the fact that this is so;

    • how the above items are to be paid/levied

    • information about compensation schemes.

    Answers to Multiple Choice Questions, answer of question 76 amended to read:

    Q76.       Answer: B           Ref: Chapter 6, Section 1

    12/03/2022 - 11/03/2023
    08/02/2022
    Testing
  • Financial Planning & Advice V6

    Financial Planning & Advice V6
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 2, section 7.7.2 as follows:
    Exceptionally the FOS will Deal with a Complaint Beyond these Timescales

    The maximum financial award the FOS can make increased significantly from 1 April 2019 to £350,000. A further increase in April 2020 means it now stands at £355,000 plus interest and costs where the matters being complained about occurred after the above date.

    The current limits are:

    • £375,000 for complaints referred to FOS on or after 1 April 2022 about acts or omissions by firms on or after 1 April 2019
    • £355,000 for complaints referred to FOS on or after 1 April 2020 about acts or omissions by firms on or after 1 April 2019
    • £350,000 for complaints referred to FOS between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 about acts or omissions by firms on or after 1 April 2019
    • £170,000 for complaints referred to FOS on or after 1 April 2022 about acts or omissions by firms before 1 April 2019
    • £160,000 for complaints about acts or omissions by firms before 1 April 2019, and which are referred to the FOS after that date.

    MCQs, Question no.76 has been amended to read:

    76.          What is the maximum financial award that the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) can make?
    A.            £150,000 plus interest and costs
    B.            £150,000 plus interest
    C.            £375,000 plus interest and costs
    D.            £375,000 plus interest

    MCQs, Answer no.73 has been amended to read:

    73.                          C                             Chapter 1, Section 4.3
    Everyone receives a dividend allowance of £2,000. For a higher rate taxpayer, dividends over this amount are taxed at 33.75%.

    MCQs, Answer no.76 has been amended to read:

    76.                          C                            Chapter 2, Section 7.7.2
    The maximum financial award that the FOS can make is £375,000 plus interest and costs. It can recommend a higher amount, but this figure is not binding on the firm.

    MCQs, Answer no.77 has been amended to read:

    77.                          A                             Chapter 1, Section 4.3
    The tax rates for dividends in excess of £2,000 are: for basic rate taxpayers 8.75%, for higher rate taxpayers, 33.75%, and for additional rate taxpayers, 39.35%.

     
    01/10/2022 - 30/09/2023
    22/02/2023
    Testing
  • Investment, Risk & Taxation V13

    Investment, Risk & Taxation V13
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 1, End of Chapter Question Answer References of Question 3 & 4 amended to read:

    3.  What type of bond provides coupons and maturity proceeds that are linked to the rate of inflation? 
    Answer reference: Section 2.2.1 

    4. What form of zero coupon debt securities are used to manage the government’s cash and funding requirements? 

    Answer reference: Section 2.2.2
    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 3, section 2.3.3, Holding Period Return (HPR) equation amended to read:
    Formula 

    The following updates have been made to your workbook edition.

    Chapter 3, Section 1.2.1 - Present Value of a Future Sum Cash Flow equation amended to read:
    Formula

    Chapter 3, section 3.5, Multi-Factor Models, Assumptions and Limitations, under three broad categories of multi-factor models, second model is amended to read:

    2.    Fundamental models, which compare the returns against underlying factors such as earnings, eg, company profits or dividend ratio, when assessing equities. 

    Chapter 4, Section 1.2.4 – Dividend Allowance diagram, Dividend income falling below the basic rate tax limit percentage amended to read:
    screenshot

    Chapter 1, Section 2.1.1 – Nominal value, second sentence is amended to read:

    For example, the nominal value is normally £100 on UK bonds, $1,000 on US bonds, and CNY100 in China.

    Chapter 1, Section 2.8.4 – Bond Volatility and Risk, second equation is amended to read:

    Formula

     

    31/10/2022 - 30/10/2023
    13/03/2023
    Testing