The Federal Service for Financial Markets (FFMS) of Russia regulates the stock market as a whole, the operations conducted on it, and the relationships between its participants. Therefore, to carry out legitimate activities in the financial market, the Bank of Russia requires that specialists have a qualification certificate for working in the financial market (certificate of the Federal Financial Markets Service).
Who should have a certificate
The Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia has developed and approved by Order No. 10-4 / pz-n of January 28, 2010, the Regulation on Financial Market Specialists.
It says that mandatory certification should be passed to employees of organizations that work in the financial market, carrying out the following activities:
- depository;
- brokerage and dealership;
- securities management;
- organizer of work in the securities market;
- clearing;
- keeping a register of securities owners;
- on the management of non-state pension and mutual investment funds;
- specialized depository of non-state pension and mutual investment funds.
In these organizations, certification is not carried out by the entire staff, but only by the following employees:
- the head, deputy head, heads and deputy heads of branches, if decision-making in the field of activity of the organization is related to their responsibilities;
- the head and deputy head of the unit, if their responsibilities include decision-making in this area, including internal accounting of securities transactions;
- an employee whose duties include internal control over the organization’s activities in the financial market;
- employee whose responsibilities include the direct implementation of the organization’s work in the financial market.
How to get a certificate from the Federal Service for Financial Markets of Russia is also useful for students graduating from universities in financial specialties and intending to start working in leading companies upon graduation. In practice, employers in 80% of cases want to see among the candidates for their jobs the holders of such certificates in the specialty that the organization is focused on. The presence of a ready-made certificate enables the graduate to quickly find a highly paid and interesting job.
Who is allowed to take the exam?
In order for a candidate to begin passing the exam for obtaining the FSFM certificate, it is necessary that he meets several conditions:
- Was over 18 years old
- If the candidate previously had a certificate from the Federal Service for Financial Markets and he was canceled, then more than three years must pass from the date of cancellation.
- The candidate must successfully pass the basic exam.
Who conducts the exam
Initially, the Federal Service for Financial Markets of the Russian Federation (FFMS of Russia) issued a certificate and conducted exams, which is why it is called that. Then, extradition functions were transferred to certified training centers. They are accredited by the Bank of Russia to take examinations of stock market specialists and have the right to issue a certificate from the Federal Financial Markets Service. Basic and specialized exams are also conducted by these accredited training centers. Depending on the center, the cost of the exam, otherwise called the examination fee, ranges from 2000 to 4000 rubles.
During the basic qualification examination, candidates are tested for knowledge of legal acts related to the regulation of financial markets, for the ability to make simple calculations using methods of financial and economic analysis, economic statistics and mathematical economics.
During a specialized qualification exam , a test is conducted for in-depth knowledge of the regulatory framework related to a particular specialization in the financial market.
What documents are required to pass the exam
Before conducting a basic exam, training centers assemble groups for which entry is required:
- a copy of the certificate of higher education (if any);
- contract and application form of the training center;
- copy of passport;
- receipt of payment.
To pass a specialized exam you must have:
- documents confirming the successful completion of the basic exam;
- copy of the certificate of higher education;
- contract and application form of the training center;
- copy of passport;
- receipt of payment.
When can they refuse to pass the exam?
The reason for not admitting a candidate to the exam may be one of the following reasons:
- the candidate appeared for the exam without a document proving his identity;
- an incomplete set of necessary documents has been submitted;
- submitted documents contain false or false information;
- more than five years have passed since the passing of the basic exam;
- annulment of the results of the previous exam if three months have not passed from its date;
- three years have not passed since the cancellation of the previous certificate of the candidate;
- Earlier, the candidate had an attempt to pass the exam on someone else's passport, and from that moment one year has not passed.
How is the exam
Entrance to the test is made according to the passport. The rules of the exam do not differ by excessive liberty, you can use only a pencil, pen, and clean sheets of paper for writing on the exam, it is allowed to use a non-programmable calculator.
During the exam it is strictly forbidden:
- use regulatory acts of Russia in any form;
- use special and reference literature;
- use mobile communications and other methods of transmitting and storing information;
- leave the testing room before it ends;
- Communicate with someone about exam topics
- record and transmit the content of test questions;
- delay the delivery of test answers after the end of the exam time;
- to bring examination sheets from the premises for testing.
Testing takes place in electronic form in a specially equipped audience. The tasks and questions of the tests are formed on the basis of the requirements of the Bank of Russia for qualification exams of a stock market specialist. The basic exam and the fifth series certificate exam last two hours, the remaining one is one hour.
For the correct answer in the test system, one or two points are assigned depending on the complexity of the question. A successful test is considered when the subject scored more than 80 points out of a possible 100. If a candidate scores from 75 to 79 points during testing, he can appeal his results within a month from the moment of the exam. The appeal takes place in the form of an independent two-hour written work with the justification of the correctness of their answers. Moreover, it is already permitted to use regulatory documents.
What types of certificates exist
In order to get a certificate of a certain type, you must first pass a basic qualification exam, sometimes called the 0.0 series exam. After passing it, the certificate is not issued.
To conduct real work, specialized FSFM certificates are required. The types of specialized certificates depend on the type of activity in the financial market:
- Certificate FSFR 1.0 - training for dealer, brokerage and securities management activities.
- FSFR 2.0 certificate - for clearing activities and work on the stock exchange.
- Certificate FFMS 3.0 - for accounting of securities owners;
- Certificate FSFM 4.0 - for depository activities.
- Certificate of the Federal Financial Markets Service 5.0 - for the management of non-governmental pension, investment and mutual funds.
- FSFM 6.0 certificate - for the activities of the special depository of non-state pension, investment and mutual funds.
- Certificate FFMS 7.0 - for the activities of non-state pension funds, professional and compulsory pension insurance funds.
How long is a certificate issued?
After successfully passing the exam within 15 days, the training center issues the applicant a qualification certificate of a financial market specialist. The certificate is perpetual.
Who maintains the certificate registry
The register of issued and canceled certificates of financial market specialists is maintained by the Bank of Russia. This registry contains information:
- about the specialist who received the certificate;
- about the series and serial number;
- about the area of the financial market for which the certificate is issued;
- other necessary information.
When changing the data contained in a single register, the certificate holder is obliged to notify the Bank of Russia of this. To do this, it is enough for him to send a written application to any territorial unit of the Bank of Russia, enclosing copies of documents confirming the legality of the changes and a copy of the certificate.
Certificate Revocation
If the certificate holder violates the laws of Russia in the field of securities and financial markets, the Bank of Russia may revoke its qualification certificate for a period of three years. After making a decision on cancellation, the Bank of Russia shall notify the holder of the certificate from which it was canceled within five working days, enclosing a copy of the corresponding order of the Federal Service for Financial Markets.
The list of canceled certificates is posted on the official website of the Federal Service for Financial Markets of Russia in the public domain for all interested parties within ten business days from the date of the decision on cancellation. The owner of the certificate can challenge this decision only in court.
How to prepare for the exam
Recently, training centers offer candidates seeking to obtain the FSFM certificate training in preparatory courses. The convenience of visiting preparatory courses lies in the possibility of:
- receiving recommendations from teachers taking the exam;
- passing preliminary trial testing, which allows to identify the candidate’s weaknesses and reduce excitement and stress during the passage of this exam;
- the study of specialized manuals and guidelines with examples of questions and tasks with answers to them.
In addition, preparatory courses that can be taken remotely have gained great popularity. This method is much cheaper than full-time study while maintaining its quality. So, the most sought-after exam is the right to receive a certificate of the Federal Financial Markets Service 1.0. It is not difficult to find materials for independent preparation for it.