STUDY FOR THE SECURITIES INDUSTRY ESSENTIALS EXAM (SIE) EXAM

Don't go in and sit for the Securities Industry Essentials e xam (SIE) without first mastering the definitions of, and the differences between, prime brokers, introducing brokers, and clearing brokers. Why? Because FINRA lists these topics as important in section 1.1.4 of its Content Outline for the SIE exam. Bob Eder covers these subjects on pages 15 and 16 of his book, Study for the SIE Exam . Here is a sample of his discussion: Introducing Brokers (1.1.4) These broker/dealers do not wish to maintain a back office handling paperwork, trade confirmations, handling of certificates and trade processing. They avoid this work by using a clearing broker to handle these functions. In effect, one can think of introducing brokers as branch offices and the clearing broker as the main office. The introducing broker will open an account for a client, then transmit all the information about the client, such as address, business, investment objective to the clearing brokerage firm. Here is the...

There are many books on the market dealing with the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam. However, they are not of equal quality or usefulness when it comes to studying and preparing to take the SIE exam. Many just group questions that have been floating around for the Series 7 or Series 6 exam, without first making sure that these questions are appropriate for the SIE exam. So a student could spend hours taking practice questions and wrestling with them, all to little avail, because their subject matter is not asked on the test. Be careful in selecting the right study aid for the SIE exam! For example, Bob Eder J.D. has created a study text that list reference outline numbers prepared by FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the keeper of the SIE test. For example in Chapter 1, the Securities Markets, Bob Eder talks about Introducing Brokers, and next to this heading, he lists "(1.1.4)," the reference number in FINRA's Content Outline. This is he...