CIRO Institutional Securities study guide
CIRO Institutional Securities · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CIRO Institutional Securities credential is a Canadian proficiency qualification for individuals who work with institutional clients rather than retail investors. It is typically associated with sales, trading, underwriting, and support roles at investment dealers, where the day-to-day work involves large orders, sophisticated counterparties, and products such as bonds, money market instruments, derivatives, and foreign exchange. The CIRO Institutional Securities study guide has 11 sections and about 4,354 words.
01Regulatory Framework and Conduct Standards for Institutional Business
Candidates must know the difference between prudential regulation (capital, liquidity, systemic stability) and conduct regulation (how firms treat clients and markets). Conduct standards for institutional business rest on a small number of principles: acting with integrity, due skill and care, treating clients fairly, managing conflicts, and cooperating openly with regulators.
324 words, about 2 min02Institutional Clients
Institutional client rules begin with classification. Firms must determine whether a client is an individual or an entity, and whether it qualifies for treatment as an institutional, permitted, or accredited client.
340 words, about 2 min03Account Opening and Client Onboarding
Onboarding combines identity verification, know-your-client information, suitability assessment, account documentation, and ongoing monitoring. Candidates must understand the distinction between identity verification and the broader KYC assessment of the client's business, financial circumstances, and risk profile.
292 words, about 1 min04Equities: Markets, Trading and Settlement
Candidates must understand the equity trade lifecycle: order entry, execution, confirmation, clearing, and settlement. Know the roles of the exchange, alternative trading venues, the clearing house, and the settlement depository.
349 words, about 2 min05Fixed Income Securities: Government and Corporate Bonds
Fixed income questions test the relationship between price and yield, the meaning of accrued interest, and the distinction between clean and dirty prices. Candidates must understand yield to maturity, yield to call, and current yield, and when each is the appropriate measure.
344 words, about 2 min06Money Market Instruments and Short-Term Funding
Money market instruments mature in one year or less and include treasury bills, commercial paper, bankers' acceptances, certificates of deposit, and repurchase agreements. Candidates must understand discount quoting conventions versus add-on yield conventions, and why a bill quoted on a discount basis produces a different yield than the discount rate suggests.
354 words, about 2 min07Derivatives: Forwards, Futures, Options and Swaps
Derivatives questions reward candidates who can map each instrument to its obligation structure. A forward is a private, customised obligation to trade at a future date.
353 words, about 2 min08Foreign Exchange and Cross-Border Institutional Transactions
Foreign exchange questions test spot versus forward rates, settlement conventions, and cross-border regulatory obligations. Candidates must understand that spot FX settles on a standard value date, typically two business days after trade date for major pairs, and that a forward rate reflects the interest rate differential between the two currencies.
337 words, about 2 min09Primary Market Activity: Underwriting and New Issues
Primary market questions cover the roles of issuer, underwriter, and selling group, and the difference between a firm commitment and a best efforts underwriting. In a firm commitment, the underwriter buys the securities and bears the risk of unsold inventory.
325 words, about 2 min10Institutional Trading Practices
Institutional trading practices questions test whether candidates can recognise manipulative and deceptive conduct. Know the categories: wash trading, pre-arranged trading outside permitted rules, spoofing, marking the close, and front-running.
334 words, about 2 min11Order Handling and Best Execution
Best execution requires firms to take reasonable steps to obtain the best result for clients, considering price, speed, likelihood of execution, and cost. It is a process obligation, not a guarantee of the best possible price.
1,002 words, about 5 min