Hi All,I am to join a European investment bank in September, and they want me to take the FSA exams before I start. So that I can plan my holidays, can anyone give me some advice as to how long it will take me to revise for these exams? I have a decent grounding in financial maths and the way the markets work, it is the regulatory aspects that I'm gonna need to concentrate on.Eternally grateful.

hi david no idea how long it takes, but it seems we're gonna go through it at the same timei only know of one guy who failed it the first time, he was sacked 3 months later anybody got some advice?

HICould you give link to official page, where can I find info qbout exam date and books to read etc... please....Best regards,Piotr

Well,The secret is to do the mock exams over and over again. I am sure 7City runs some kind of online course. If you work focused you can easily learn it in a week.The reg exam is quite tricky since they try to confuse you using double negatives in the questions.As far as I remember the equity part of the exam is mostly about how LSE works. Don't underestimate anything, no matter how advanced your math skills are.I would take the exam as soon as possible so that you can avoid any last minute stress. Once you have cleared this obstacle you can focus on what you will be doing day to day.Edit: Check out this link:http://www.7city.com/sicerts/index.cfm

http://www.sii.org.uk/web5/Infopool.nsf ... rtificates - you'll need to do the certificate programme relevant to your job.Figure on a week's worth of fairly concentrated study per topic. You can buy the official workbooks from here: http://www.sii.org.uk/web5/Infopool.nsf ... rkbooksThe exams are not very hard - but they do like their tricky questions, double negatives and very very picky points - so it's much more a memory test than anything else.

The usual best format is 4-5 day full time course in a group with a private tutor to cover both Reg and Securities.In principle this is a revision course.I didn't even open the book pack before the revision course!In practice, the tutor guides you through the essentials that you need to master. If you learn almost EVERY single thing they teach you (they do it slow and nicely), and perhaps browse through their study book as a revision tool, and that way pick up a few more bits and pieces, you are extremely likely to pass the first time (you will have to guess at a quarter of the questions, but that's fine). All you do in the evening is study and PRACTICE with the mock exams. My school also gave us excellent flash cards with mock questions to study on the go!My graduate class had a pass rate of 90%+. Luckily we had a weekend between day 2 and 3 I think. This was sooo useful to learn Reg.I think that in the middle of the second week (Thursday or so) we took both exams on the same day right away at the end of the course. Definitely the best way rather than going back to work for a few days.Reg is indeed tricky. You need to be a good English reader to work out the construction of all those f*cked up sentences. Securities and Derivatives paper is significantly more accessible if you know (or can learn fast) about derivatives."I have a decent grounding in financial maths and the way the markets work": that's of significant but limited help, you'll have to learn the opening hours of unspeakable commodities exchanges (if you take the commodity part too), the settlement days of BTPs and all sorts of technicalities (in the Securities paper).If you can get your company to pay the group tuition is by miles the best way to prepare.

THANKS VM fo links.Best regards,Piotr

Thanks guys, much appreciated

just received the learning packguys it's HUGE !!3 big books, more than 300 pages each...double touch, how did you manage to learn all that stuff in 1 week?btw the bank is indeed paying a training course by 7citygd luck to you all

QuoteOriginally posted by: quantstudent19just received the learning packguys it's HUGE !!3 big books, more than 300 pages each...double touch, how did you manage to learn all that stuff in 1 week?btw the bank is indeed paying a training course by 7citygd luck to you allThe slide pack from 7city condenses it a HUGE amount. They really only focus on the stuff you need to know to pass the exam.