Series 57 case studies
Series 57 · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Series 57 - Securities Trader Representative Exam - is a FINRA qualification exam for individuals at member firms who trade equity and debt securities, including market making and proprietary trading. It sits alongside other FINRA qualification exams such as the SIE and Series 7 in FINRA's Registration, Exams & CE framework, and it is typically paired with firm-level registration through systems such as Classic CRD or FinPro. The Series 57 case studies are 5 cases and about 3,474 words.
1The 200-Share Problem: Intermarket Sweeps and a Rejected ISO
your desk receives a market buy order for 30,000 shares of XYZ from an institutional customer, limit 25.10. The consolidated book shows: Exchange A bid 24.98; Exchange B offer 25.00 for 500 shares (automated); Exchange C offer 24.99 for 200 shares (automated); Exchange B further offers 25.02 for 4,000 shares and 25.04 for 20,000 shares (automated).
703 words, about 4 min2Market Maker Inventory, Rule 201, and a Customer In the Middle
Your firm is a registered market maker in ABCD, a Nasdaq-listed stock. Yesterday's close was 16.00.
721 words, about 4 min3Sponsored Access, a Signed Waiver, and a Stale Credit Limit
Your firm sponsors a hedge fund's direct market access to four exchanges. Orders pass through your gateway, which applies pre-trade controls: an aggregate $5 million gross notional credit limit per client, a 50,000-share per-order size cap, and a price collar of plus or minus 3% from the last consolidated sale.
730 words, about 4 min4A Five-Million-Dollar Bond, a 1.50-Point Spread, and the Clock
a retail customer sells $5,000,000 face value of a 4.75% senior note due 2031 to your desk at 98.00, a price yielding roughly 5.1%. The note is thinly traded.
666 words, about 3 min5A Locate Letter, a Threshold List, and a Customer's 'Long' Mark
On Monday a customer instructs you to sell short 25,000 shares of SMCP, a small-cap trading at $7.12 that has appeared on the threshold securities list for the last six consecutive settlement days. The customer's prime broker supplies a locate letter covering 25,000 shares, but the letter is dated the prior Friday and does not identify the lending source.
654 words, about 3 min