Introduction
In response to the financial crisis of 2008, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, which, among other things, required “municipal advisors” to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The new law required the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the municipal securities self-regulatory organization, to create a new registration category called a “municipal advisor representative.” A municipal advisor representative is a natural person associated with a municipal advisor who “engages in municipal advisory activities on the municipal advisor’s behalf.”
To set professional standards and ensure a basic level of industry knowledge, the MSRB created a new securities qualification exam called the Municipal Advisor Representative Qualification Exam (Series 50). From January 15, 2016, to February 15, 2016, the MSRB will offer a “pilot test” of the new exam to try out its bank of exam questions and to determine a passing score for the permanent exam. In return for being a guinea pig, anyone who takes and passes the Series 50 pilot exam will be qualified as a municipal advisor representative and will not be required to take the permanent Series 50 exam. Another benefit of taking the Series 50 pilot exam: if you fail the pilot, it will not count against your three chances to take the permanent exam before having to wait six months for the fourth retake.
As if that’s not enough incentive to take the Series 50 pilot exam, the MSRB is offering another sweetener: if you fail the pilot exam, you will be given a free retake when the permanent exam is available. But wait, there’s more. If you fail the Series 50 pilot and you have a CRD record, your failure on the Series 50 pilot will not appear on your CRD record. Truly an exam you cannot say no to!
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