INTRODUCTION
Every broking member that trades bonds on the IRC (interest rates and currency) market is required by the JSE to appoint a settlement officer and alternate settlement officer, responsible for:
- dealing with all queries by the JSE in relation to settlement;
- ensuring that all transactions are settled in terms of the IRC Rules and Directives of the JSE;
- advising the JSE of any issue that may potentially impact on the settlement of a transaction;
- co-operating with the settlement authority to ensure the efficient and timeous settlement of all transactions.
Syllabus outline
The JSE Cash Bonds Settlement Officer Examination Material (June 2021 edition) consists of selected extracts of the Financial Markets Act (Act no 19 of 2012), the JSE Interest Rate and Currency Derivatives Rules and JSE Interest Rate and Currency Derivatives Directives.
You can download the study material from www.virtualexamcentre.co.za under the study material tab once you have paid for the exam.
Exam format
The exam format consists of 50 multiple-choice questions. The examination will take place under controlled circumstances at one of our exam venues or through remote online invigilation. Once you have studied the learning material and are ready to take the exam, you may book a time and date at the exam venue of your choice or contact SAIFM for the remote online invigilation.
If you are unable to obtain a booking at the exam venue of your choice within a reasonable period, please contact the SAIFM office for special arrangements, including remote online invigilation.
It is advisable to take the demo exam prior to doing the exam to familiarise yourself with the format and feel of the exam. The demo exam has no bearing whatsoever on the study material. It is simply a few fun questions to familiarise yourself with the examination system.
You are required to take your identity document or passport with you when taking the exam and will not be allowed to take the exam if you do not produce any identification. During the remote online invigilation, you will be required to show it to the invigilator. Please see the terms and conditions of the remote online invigilation.
You must also sign the SAIFM Test Register, which will be kept at each testing centre.
Specifications of exam
Duration: 1 hour
Number of questions: 50
Competency (Pass) mark: 70%
No negative marking.
The system will keep time in accordance with the downloading speed of a particular internet connection. In other words, you will lose no time if your download is slower than normal. Please keep your eye on the timer displayed at the right-hand corner of the Examination Title Screen to keep track of your time. If your time runs out, your examination will automatically terminate, and your score will be calculated.
The system is specifically designed to save any questions submitted so that in the case of a power failure or internet interruption, no data will be lost.
In the event of a learner not being able to continue the exam within a reasonable period due to a power failure or internet interruption, the exam must be abandoned, and a new appointment made to retake the exam.
In the event of any delay in starting or any interruption of the exam, the learner is entitled to reschedule the exam appointment.
Should a learner decide to wait for the cause of the delay to be resolved and start or carry on with the exam, there can be no recourse taken with SAIFM should the result of the exam not be a pass mark.
Exam Procedure
Log in with your identity number or passport number. This must correspond with the number used to enrol. Please leave out all alphabetical spacing symbols (-) and spaces
- Next a screen will appear with all the examinations that you are registered for.
- Select the examination you wish to do.
- The invigilator at the testing centre will unlock the exam session for you.
- The Exam Title Page will now appear.
Navigation bar
The navigation bar has the following options:
Back: Regress to the previous question without submitting an answer to the current question.
Submit: Submits your answer for the current question and continues to the next question.
Progress indicator: Shows you the list of questions that you have already answered.
If you want to change the answer to a question that you have already answered, click on the question in the progress window in the bottom left-hand corner and select “GO”.
If you change an answer, you must submit the change by selecting the submit button otherwise your answer will not be updated to the new selection.
Leave unanswered: If you have selected an answer but change your mind and wish to rather leave the question unanswered, select this option.
Final submission of answers: Once you have reached the end of your examination and there is still some time left, you will be requested to submit your final answers. Once you hit the “Submit Final Answers” button your final score will be calculated, and you will not be able to correct any more answers.
Revision of incorrect answers
Upon completion of your exam once the results have been obtained, you will be allowed 10 minutes to review the questions and answers that you had answered incorrectly. This is the only time that will be available for you to review your incorrect answers and you will not be able to review them at a later stage.
Enrolment and Payment
Enrolment
Enrolment takes places online through our Virtual Exam Centre. Select the top icon that says Enrol and log in with your ID or passport number. Complete the details requested or if in the already, confirm that they are still correct. Your identity number or passport number will serve to identify you to our system.
The facility to purchase an exam is only available to members of SAIFM. More information regarding membership can be found on www.saifm.co.za.
You may elect to become an affiliate member by agreeing to adhere to the SAIFM Code of Conduct by checking the appropriate box when registering or updating your information, thereby allowing you to purchase an exam.
Should you wish to purchase by credit card, you may continue. Should you wish to use as alternative form of payment, you can close the internet and follow the procedure outlined below.
Purchase the exam by credit card
You can purchase the exam(s) 〈module(s)〉 you wish to write by adding them to your shopping basket. Then you proceed to checkout to pay by credit card through the secure online credit card gateway. Just follow the instructions on screen. Access to the learning material will be automatic after the payment has been made.
Purchase the exam by electronic transfer
NOTE that our prices increase on 1 August each year. If you make a payment before 1 August but do not send and confirm receipt of proof thereof before 1 August, when prices increase, you will be held liable to pay the new price.
If you wish to pay by cash deposit or electronic transfer (EFT), the following procedure applies:
- Proof of the payment (stamped bank deposit slip or EFT confirmation) must be emailed to either Hayley Pfeifer or Susan Jansen van Rensburg.
- Your name, ID number and title(s) of the exam(s) you wish to be purchase must be clearly noted in the email.
- Immediately after sending the email, you need to phone our office (011 802 4768) to confirm that the email has been received.
- Please allow approximately 2 business days for SAIFM staff to load your exam. It is NOT automatic as is the case with credit card transactions.
It is very important to note that if the above procedure is not followed correctly, your exam(s) may not be loaded for you. Please DO NOT instruct the bank to automatically send the payment if paying via EFT – rather have the remittance sent to yourself and then forward to SAIFM with the required details.
Company payments
Should you need a quotation before you can remit payment, you can email Hayley Pfeifer or Susan Jansen van Rensburg to request one. The following information must be supplied when requesting an invoice:
- Name of company
- Address of company
- VAT number of company
- Name/s of candidate/s and ID or passport number/s (Note all candidates must have their information registered on the Virtual Exam Centre before an invoice will be issued)
- Exams/s required for the candidate/s
Once payment has been made, the procedure as outlined above should be followed.
Upon receipt of proof of payment, SAIFM will issue a tax invoice.
Cash payments
We regrettably cannt accept cash payments at our premises, so if you wish to pay by cash you will need to follow the same procedure for cash deposits as EFT payments.
Banking details
The SA Institute of Financial Markets
Bidvest Bank
Account No: 1557 0709 401
Branch Code: 462005
Account Type: Business Account
Confirmations
You may confirm which exams you are registered for by entering your identity number or passport number into the Enrol screen. It is advisable that you confirm your exam in all cases where you did not make use of a credit card payment.
Learning material
Learning material
The learning material is designed to be a self-study workbook. It contains all the information necessary to pass the examination.
Candidates must ensure that the correct learning material is being studied. SAIFM cannot be held responsible if the incorrect learning material is used. The latest edition is stated in the syllabus details on the relevant exam webpage.
Accessing the learning material
The learning material can be downloaded from the Virtual Exam Centre once the exam has been paid for. If purchase takes place by credit card through the secure e-commerce facility, the learning material will be available immediately. In the case of payment by electronic transfer, the exam will be loaded by SAIFM staff within 2 business days of confirmation of receiving the e-mailed proof of payment.
Once the exam has been purchased, the learning material will be available for download until the exam has either been written or the six-month time period (see time limits) has elapsed.
SAIFM is able to download and print the learning material on behalf of candidates who do not have access to a printer. Such hard copies may be purchased once the exam has been paid for.
Updates
Learning material is amended from time to time.
If the learning material is replaced with an updated version that affects the exams or new learning material, notice will be given to registered candidates of the changeover to the new exam. This fact will also be advertised on both www.saifm.co.za and www.virtualexamcentre.co.za. Candidates may therefore, before the changeover date, write an exam based on the old material while the new material will be examined from the changeover date. The new book will be e-mailed to learners on request from the date of notice until the changeover date.
Strict email filters and incorrectly supplied addresses could hinder delivery of notifications and SAIFM cannot guarantee that email notifications are always delivered. Candidates are thus advised to check the SAIFM website for notices that may affect learning material before booking to write an exam.
Should a candidate study from the incorrect learning material and notices regarding updates have been published, there can be no recourse taken against SAIFM.
Exam dates and booking for exams
Exams do not take place on set dates, but on any date that suits the candidate if it falls on a business day (excluding during the venue closure in December) within the 6-month time limit (see below) and subject to the availability of an opening at the exam venue concerned. When you are ready to write your exam, contact the exam venue closest to you and make a booking directly with them. Go to www.virtualexamcentre.co.za for the exam venue list. Alternatively, contact SAIFM if you prefer the remote online invigilation.
Note: Failure to arrive or not cancel at least 2 business days before the exam will result in a R125.00 fee being payable before a new appointment will be made.
Appeals
Should a student question the correctness of a question, his or her answers can be referred for an appeal by completing and submitting the appeal request form along with the proof of payment of the appeal fee, which must be done within 14 days of the exam. The cost of the appeal is R1185.00 (VAT inclusive). Should it be found that the question was in fact incorrect, the student will receive credit for that question, if necessary, and the fee repaid.
To download the appeal request form, click here.
Results and certificates
Your results will be available immediately upon completion of your exam and a printout made thereof. This will be proof of the result of a particular exam with your score indicated on the printout. A certificate will be printed and posted to you, by normal mail, within 6-8 weeks of passing the exam. Lost certificates can be reprinted at a cost of R248.00 (VAT inclusive) each.
Non-disclosure of results
Results will not be given to third parties unless the learner has given written authority for the third party to obtain such information. Without this authority, results will only be disclosed to exam candidates / learners themselves.
Costs
The cost of the JSE Cash Bonds Settlement Officer exam is R2170-00 (Inc. VAT). This allows for:
- One opportunity to write the exam
- Access to download the learning material until the exam has either been written or lapsed (see time limit below ).
- Access to purchase a hard copy of the learning material (R458.00 VAT inclusive) until the exam has either been written or lapsed (see time limit below ).
Should you need to rewrite the exam, the cost is R2170-00 (Inc. VAT) effective 1 August 2024.
Note that our prices increase on 1 August each year. If you make a payment before 1 August but do not send and confirm receipt thereof before 1 august, when prices increase, you will be liable to pay the new price.
Special exam procedure concessions
If you require any special assessment procedure concessions due to disability, or for any other reasons, please contact Christie-anne van Wyngaardt at christie@saifm.co.za to make special arrangements to accommodate you.
Cancellations
The following non-negotiable conditions apply to refunds. It is automatically assumed that these conditions have been read and understood when we receive a refund request.
- Refunds can ONLY be made into a South African or Namibian bank account.
- All refunds are subject to a 20% administration fee.
- Refund requests must be submitted on or before the exact expiry date of the exam (see time limits below within which exams must be taken)
- Refunds can only be paid to the person/company that originally made the payment.
- The following information is required for the refund to be processed. (Note: if all of the information is not received or is incorrect, the refund will not be processed)
- Name of Learner
- Title of exam(s) you wish to be refunded for
- Bank confirmation letter
To request a refund, please email the above details to Christie-anne van Wyngaardt.
Time limits
Exams must be written within 6 months of purchasing the exam. After the 6-month period, a student’s right to the exam lapses and no refunds will be made. Should a student wish to write the exam after the 6-month period, he/she will have to repurchase the exam.