NISM will soon start online continuous professional examinations (CPEs) for the mutual fund distributors through webinar, said two senior officials familiar with the development.
In fact, NISM will announce this formally by issuing a press release this week, said one of the senior officials. He said, “We have started online CPE for MF distributors through webinar. Currently, we are doing this on pilot basis for the MF distributors who have enrolled for the CPE training classes which were canceled due to nationwide lockdown. We will open this facility for all the MF distributors shortly,” he said.
Earlier, NISM canceled and postponed all NISM exams scheduled to be held between March 14 and May 31. These exams included NISM Mutual Fund Distribution Examination and CPE programs. As a result, ARNs which are due for renewal or expiring between March 15 and June 29 continue to remain valid till June 30, 2020.
With this, mutual fund distributors will be able to attend CPE through webinars and renew their ARN online well within the due date.
Currently, distributors have to undergo a mandatory six hours of class room training to renew their ARN.
Last month, only 7 individuals joined the MF distribution business and 14 ARNs were renewed due to temporary suspension of CPEs and NISM exams during nationwide lockdown.
