The specialist qualification for settlement, custody and asset-servicing professionals. 200 calibrated MCQs across all 5 chapters, £49.
Global Securities Operations is the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment's specialist qualification covering what happens after a trade is agreed: how securities are held, cleared, settled and serviced across markets. It follows a holding through custody chains, central securities depositories, corporate actions, tax and operational risk.
It's the natural pick for anyone whose day-to-day involves:
50 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour, computer-based. This bank is built on the current edition (Edition 21, syllabus v20). Check CISI's own site for the latest exam details before you book.
| Role | Why GSO helps |
|---|---|
| Settlement / clearing operations | Ch 2 covers the trade cycle, matching, CCPs and netting, DvP, settlement periods, buy-ins and settlement discipline |
| Custody / asset servicing | Ch 3 is the heaviest chapter — corporate actions, proxy voting, safeguarding client assets, nominees, fees and securities lending |
| Relationship manager at a custodian | Ch 1 covers global, regional and local custodians, custody agreements, SLAs and the RFI/RFP process |
| Investment or fund operations | Ch 1 and Ch 3 cover how managers, brokers, custodians and depositories interact |
| Operational risk / controls | Ch 5 covers operational, settlement and systemic risk, Basel, subcustodian review and assurance reports |
| Tax and withholding operations | Ch 4 covers withholding tax, double taxation treaties, FATCA and CRS, and UK securities taxation |
| Ch | Topic | Exam weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Industry Participants — custodians, depositories, ICSDs and CSDs, brokers, investment managers, client categories, custody agreements, T2S and CSDR | 13 / 50 |
| 2 | Settlement Characteristics — trade cycle, clearing and CCPs, netting, DvP, settlement periods, depositary receipts, FX settlement, buy-ins | 11 / 50 |
| 3 | Other Investor Services — the heaviest chapter — corporate actions, proxy voting, safeguarding assets, nominees, custody fees, securities lending, cash management | 16 / 50 |
| 4 | Aspects of Taxation — withholding tax, double taxation treaties, FATCA/CRS, UK gilts, stamp duty reserve tax, capital gains | 4 / 50 |
| 5 | Risk — operational, settlement, market, liquidity and systemic risk, Basel, SEC Rules 17f-5/17f-7, assurance reports | 6 / 50 |
Ch 3 and Ch 1 together carry well over half the marks. Corporate actions in particular reward calculation practice — rights issues, bonus issues and ex-date logic come up repeatedly.
The full £49 GSO product covers:
Full GSO bank — 200 Qs across 5 chapters — £49 one-time. Or try 12 free questions per chapter first.
Assuming 8-10 hours a week alongside a full-time job:
Aim to average 80%+ across timed mocks before booking. If you can't hit that, you're not ready — better to delay a fortnight than fail and re-sit.
4-6 weeks at 8-10 hours per week is typical for candidates already working in operations. Longer if you're new to settlement and custody — Ch 3 covers a lot of ground and is worth returning to repeatedly.
50 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour, delivered computer-based. Confirm the pass mark and booking details on CISI's site — they set and can change them.
It's built on Edition 21 of the workbook (syllabus v20), the current edition at the time of writing. CISI's syllabus window for it runs to 20 November 2026; when a new version is published we review the bank against it and update.
Gumroad-backed 30-day refund. If you buy and decide it's not what you needed within 30 days, request a refund directly through Gumroad's receipt email.
No. One-time payment, permanent access. Useful if you're delaying the exam or want to keep the bank as a workplace reference.
CISI, GSO, CFR, ICWIM, IISI, GFC, CFC and RFS are trademarks of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. FinStudyHub is not affiliated with CISI. Content is original preparatory material calibrated to the published GSO syllabus.