STUDY FOR THE SECURITIES INDUSTRY ESSENTIALS EXAM (SIE) EXAM

  The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam covers SEC Rules, including Regulation S-P on the privacy of consumer financial information and the safeguarding of customers' personal information. FINRA specifically lists Regulation S-P in its SIE Content Outline in Section 3.2.4. Recently the SEC has amended Regulation S-P "to address the expanded use of technology and corresponding risks that have emerged since the Commission originally adopted Regulation S-P in 2000. " The amendments cover situations where computer hackers unlawfully view, copy or steal  a firm's customer accounts records . Brokerage and advisory firms, including mutual fund firms, are required to detail steps in writing to be taken when a brokerage firm suffers such a break-in. Firms must also report such events to the SEC as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days of occurrence. Furthermore, firms must notify customers whose accounts are, or reasonably likely to be, among those breached or s...

The SIE Exam tests candidates on privacy rules that registered reps must observe for maintaining the confidentiality of financial information and financial status of customers. How do we know this? FINRA publishes a Content Outline for the SIE exam, and Section 3.2.4 of the Content Outline lists the privacy requirements and Regulation S-P as important for the exam. Bob Eder in his SIE guide, Study for the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam , discusses privacy requirements in detail. Here is a sample of Bob Eder's discussion: Regulation S-P The SEC has adopted Regulation S-P to assure that broker/dealers and investment advisory firms, as well as other firms that collect sensitive financial information of customers, comply with the law on safeguarding the privacy of personal non-public financial information. The notice must be easy to understand, conspicuous, not camouflaged in small type or font. It must be sent to all persons with whom a financial firm initiates or mainta...

The SEC has rules regarding the requirement that registered reps maintain confidentiality about the financial positions of their customers. This is called Regulation S-P. FINRA's Content Outline for the Securities Industry Essentials Exam (SIE) includes privacy regulations in Section 3.2.4. This means that an SIE candidate should expect to see questions on privacy requirements on the SIE exam. Bob Eder has detailed information about Regulation S-P in his  Study for the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam . Here is a sample of Bob Eder's discussion on maintaining  privacy of financial information of  customers : "Regulation S-P                                                             ...