NISM Series II-B: Frequently Asked Questions

It is NISM's Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents (Mutual Fund) Certification Examination, often searched as NISM 2B. It sets a common minimum knowledge benchmark for people who work in the mutual fund R&T function of an RTA.

100 multiple choice questions of 1 mark each, 100 marks in all, in 2 hours (120 minutes). That is 72 seconds per question on average.

50 out of 100 (50%). There is one pass mark for the whole paper and no minimum per chapter.

No, not since 1 April 2025. NISM's communique of 20 March 2025 removed it. The December 2024 workbook and many coaching sites still say 25% per wrong answer; that is out of date. A wrong answer now scores zero, the same as a blank, so answer every question.

15, from Introduction to Securities to Non-Financial Transactions. The first four are securities basics, V to VII are SEBI and RTA rules, and VIII to XV are mutual funds and the RTA's daily work.

No. NISM publishes no chapter-wise weightage for II-B, so any percentage you see per chapter is not from NISM. Spend most of your time on units 11 to 15, where the RTA process questions come from.

The workbook says test centre workstations have Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc for numericals, and advises candidates to be comfortable with both.

₹1,500, with payment gateway charges extra. You pay online on NISM's certification portal when you book.

Anyone. NISM prescribes no minimum qualification. It is mandatory for associated persons in an RTA's mutual fund R&T function, and open to students and other professionals.

There is no fixed date. You choose a test centre, date and time slot on NISM's certification portal, and that booking is your exam date.

No. Series II-B is a computer-based exam at a test centre. It is not on NISM's remote-proctored list.

At the centre, when you finish. You get a temporary mark sheet there, and the certificate within two weeks if your PAN is in your registration details.

No. NISM does not re-evaluate MCQ papers. A doubt about a particular question or two has to be raised at the centre before you leave.

Enrol again on the same portal as a fresh booking, with the fee paid again.

3 years from the date of the exam.

Attend the NISM Series II-B CPE programme, or its online eCPE version, in the 12 months before the certificate expires. NISM then re-validates it for three years from the old expiry date. Or pass the exam again.

The CPE route closes. NISM's CPE page says you must pass the exam again, unless you fall in the Principal or Grandfather category.

3.00 pm for purchases, redemptions and switches, as the workbook's Table 11.1 gives it. For purchases, the NAV is that of the day the funds are available for use, whatever time the form came in.

1.30 pm for purchases and switch-ins, and 3.00 pm for redemptions and switch-outs. Liquid funds publish a NAV for every calendar day.

No. Only official points of acceptance can, such as the mutual fund's offices and the designated Investor Service Centres. Forms a distributor drops off in a bunch are time stamped one by one at the ISC.