NISM Series XII Syllabus: Securities Markets Foundation
All 6 chapters of the Securities Markets Foundation workbook, with the weightage each carries in the exam.
The NISM Series XII workbook has 6 chapters. It starts with what securities markets are and who works in them, then covers the securities themselves and how investing in them works. Three chapters follow on the main parts of the market: primary markets, secondary markets and mutual funds. The last chapter introduces derivatives.
NISM publishes a weightage for every chapter. The paper is 100 questions of 1 mark each, so a chapter's weightage is also the number of marks it is worth.
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Chapter weightage
From the workbook's own syllabus outline. Weightage is a percentage of the 100-mark paper.
| Chapter | Weightage (marks) |
|---|---|
| 1. Understanding Securities Markets and Performance | 10 |
| 2. Securities: Types, Features and Concepts of Asset Allocation and Investing | 20 |
| 3. Primary Markets | 20 |
| 4. Secondary Markets | 20 |
| 5. Mutual Funds | 20 |
| 6. Derivatives Markets | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
Where the marks sit
Chapters 2 to 5 carry 20 marks each, 80 of the 100 between them. Chapters 1 and 6 carry 10 each. The pass mark is 60, so no single chapter can be skipped safely, and the four middle chapters decide most results.
What each chapter covers
Sub-headings as the March 2026 workbook lists them.
- 1. Understanding Securities Markets and Performance
- What securities and securities markets are, the structure of the market and its participants, the role securities markets play in allocating capital, and recent technology changes in the market, including cyber security and the regulatory sandbox.
- 2. Securities: Types, Features and Concepts of Asset Allocation and Investing
- The securities available in the market and an issuer's choice between equity and debt financing; the characteristics of equity, debt and hybrid instruments; commodities as an asset class and an introduction to derivatives; asset allocation and diversification; and the investing process for equity (price and value) and for debt securities.
- 3. Primary Markets
- What the primary market does and how it differs from the secondary market; primary market intermediaries; types of issues, issuers and investors; the regulatory framework; types and pricing of public issues of equity; the public issue process, the prospectus and how to apply; listing and rights issues; public issues of debt securities; and private placements of equity and debt.
- 4. Secondary Markets
- The role of the secondary market and the markets for different securities; market structure and participants; brokers and client acquisition; trade execution; clearing and settlement, including the process seen from the investor's side; market information and regulation; risk management systems; investors' rights, obligations and grievance redressal; and secondary trading and reporting of debt securities.
- 5. Mutual Funds
- What a mutual fund is and its key terms; types of open-ended and closed-ended schemes; active and passive approaches; how to invest, including systematic transactions and switches; reading mutual fund information; benefits and costs; regulation and investor service standards; and the Specialized Investment Fund (SIF).
- 6. Derivatives Markets
- Derivatives and their underlying concepts, the types of derivative products, how derivative markets are structured, trading and settlement of equity futures and options, risk management in derivative markets, using derivatives to manage risk, and market indicators.
Free account, this exam preselected.
Glossary
The workbook ends with a glossary of financial terms, compiled by NISM from sources including SEBI's glossary of the capital market. Since Series XII is a foundation paper, many questions test whether you know what a term means, so the glossary is worth reading alongside the chapters.
What kind of paper this is
NISM describes Series XII as a voluntary exam that imparts basic knowledge of the Indian securities markets and the related rules and regulations. The workbook's examination objectives are to know the basics of the Indian securities markets, know the processes in the primary and secondary markets, and understand the schemes and products in mutual funds and derivatives markets.
It is broad rather than deep. It touches the same ground as several job-specific NISM series, at an introductory level. The workbook notes that test centre workstations carry MS-Excel or LibreOffice for numericals, so expect some calculation, for example on dividend yield and bond yields in chapter 2.
Check the workbook version
This page follows the March 2026 workbook. Its own note says to use that version for the exam taken on or after April 30, 2026. NISM revises workbooks when rules change, so confirm the version on NISM's Series XII page before you start.
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