Sebi tweaks SIF certification exam, removes currency derivatives questions
Awaiting price reaction for this filing.
SEBI operationalised a new certification exam, NISM Series V-D, for distributors of Specialized Investment Funds (SIF), replacing the existing NISM Series XIII Common Derivatives Exam which will be suspended from 21 September 2026. The new exam removes currency derivatives questions and allocates about 45 percent weightage to mutual fund distribution topics, retaining equity derivatives and interest rate derivatives, in response to industry feedback that the old exam was too difficult and partly irrelevant since AMCs cannot launch currency-derivative-based SIFs. Existing Series XIII certificate holders will be grandfathered until their current certificates expire, easing the transition and addressing a shortage of qualified SIF distributors that had reportedly led to compliance lapses.