SERIES 56 News

we do not have any study material yet. that may take some time. we only have until Aug when the original plan was to be sept. That changed. this is one rushed chaotic stituation for anyone to deal with. If they don't change the date everyone that has to take the test will be harmed . this is going to really shake things up with the prop model. they have no interest in doing what is fair & sensible for anyone. people need time to make this process work smooth for everyone involved. most firms & traders are confused by this rush job. With No time we are screwed. Everyone is taking a wait & see approach at the moment.

Maybe their will be more news next week?
 
I'm not sure the SEC likes day trading firms. However, this is will not only shake up those firms but all market makers on the CBOE and CBSX. So much for fair and orderly markets.

CBOE & CBSX firms were informed back in November 2010 that exams were coming. But, which exams was to be announced at a later date and upon the announcement, a 6 month window would open (too small in my opinion, but better than a 5 week window). Since the first exam was going to be a series 7 or the new exam that the CBOE was putting together and one of those were required to take the other two, everyone was frozen. Nobody could do anything until the CBOE announced which exam to take.

I don't think anyone has a problem complying with the testing. The problem is the impossibility of the task in this time period (5 weeks) and with no testing material for the 56. CBOE told us that it brought up to the SEC this very same concern (repeatedly) and the SEC just didn't care. this is not normal.

I have to think that there is something else going on here.
 
their will be some changes with this new test imposed on the industry. it will drive some traders away & some prop firms will go out of business. If your a small firm & you lose most of your trader's you go out of business. Remember these cbsx firms exist because traders did not want to have to take a 7 test to join a firm & it was easier in many ways to join the cbsx. Now everyone is in the same boat with needing a license & paying the yearly exchange fees & continuing education & all that good stuff just like anyone with a 7 license. It took the exhanges about a year to finish this test & if anyone thinks this test will be easy is probably fooling themselves especially if you don't have a materials to prepare for it. It's all come full circle in making everyone pay up. so you can say their cleaning house & getting rid of the weak players. Only the strong will survive.
 
Question...

The various exams cost money to take. Series 7, if I remember correctly, was upwards of $500 when I took it in 2007.

Where does this money go to? The test developers, the test givers, etc?

Maybe they're just trying to make money?

Or maybe it's a matter of the bigger firms trying to carry out a cleansing operation and drive the smaller fish out?
 
It's all about collecting fees & being watched by big brother. Not for our benefit or protection of our money in any account. their are serious issues for the regulators to be concerned with on wall st. that affect the trading public but they prefer to waste their time with day traders that pose no risk to anyone.
 
i wonder if Options only traders in prop firms will have to comply. They don't get the leverage, it's no different than trading with an online brokerage when it comes to options. So why shouldn't retail and prop options traders have to take the test?
 
Quote from earlybirdstango:

i wonder if Options only traders in prop firms will have to comply. They don't get the leverage, it's no different than trading with an online brokerage when it comes to options. So why shouldn't retail and prop options traders have to take the test?
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I don't think it has to do with "what" you trade as much has who is regulating you. If you're a FINRA firm, you don't take it. If you're with CBOE, you do. CBOE is an SRO that does not use FINRA to regulate their members. Retail customers don't take the exam or register at all because they are not members or employees of a regulated business.

Proprietary Trader Examination - (Series 56)_(CBOE) – 100 multiple choice questions; 2 ½ hours testing time. This examination qualifies an individual to conduct business as a proprietary trader with certain exchanges. These exchanges include the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), C2, The International Stock Exchange (ISE), and the National Stock Exchange (NSX).FINRA does not recognize this exam under its registration rules.
 
All CBOE and CBOE stock exchange member firms must comply. I think this is in response to other exchanges' whining that the CBOE doesn't require any exams and they all do. So, the complaint is that the CBOE doesn't have barriers to entry to reduce competition for the large, politically connected firms.

The leverage you are extended is irrelevant.

I don't know if you've flipped through the guideline. It's not a bad test (a testament to the CBOE, btw. I think it had a huge hand in the way the exam was written and what was included/excluded). Unlike the series 7 (80% of which is how to run a muni syndicate) and the exchange specific exams (which are too narrow), this exam covers a lot of stuff that you really do want to know as a trader. Including the regs. You want to know position limits on Warrants, what an ADR is and how ETFs are created. You also want to know about stabilizing IPOs, etc.

It's a good general trading exam. The exam is not the problem. The time given to comply is the problem and it is the SEC, not the CBOE, that set the deadline. The CBOE has been fighting hard for its members to give them a humane time frame.

Call the SEC. Complain.
 
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