Introduction
If you have to take the Municipal Securities Principal Qualification Examination, also known as the Series 53 exam, you’re going to have to know a lot about municipal securities, municipal fund securities, MSRB rules, customer accounts, municipal securities trading, recordkeeping, suitability, settlement and delivery, federal securities acts, and SIPC. But that’s not all. The exam writers want you to know about municipal securities underwriting, marketability, political contribution rules, supervisory obligations—and, yes, even more MSRB rules.
Regulators require you to scale this mini-mountain of information because once you’ve passed the Series 53 exam, you are qualified to supervise associates who are conducting municipal securities business. You may need to manage individuals who work in multiple capacities relating to municipal securities, including underwriting, sales, trading, advising, consulting with issuers, research, investment advising, and communicating with public investors about municipal securities. A key reason securities exams exist is to make sure that securities professionals know and follow the rules. The rules are a big part of the Series 53, for sure. But becoming registered in the Municipal Securities Principal Qualification category is about more than learning to play by the rules; it means you are expected to be competent in your supervisory role. For that reason, passing the Series 53 is not easy; it will require you to study and master a wide range of municipal securities knowledge. The Municipal Securities Principal Qualification Examination is a high bar, but once you’ve hurdled it, you will be much more prepared for your new managerial role.
Why do I have to take the Series 53?
The good people at the MSRB follow the same regulatory playbook as their cousins at FINRA: municipal securities dealers must designate securities principals to supervise their business and associated persons. These important in