CME-3B Exam for Saudi Securities Brokers: Full Guide | Hespah LLC [Skip to main content](#main-content)[![Hespah LLC](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/home_logolight_file2png.webp)](/en)Search More [Home](/en) [Learning Hub](/en/courses) [About us](https://hespah.com/who-we-are) [Blog](/en/blog) [Contact Us](/en/contact) Login[New Account](/en/register) 1. [Home](/en) / 2. [Blog](/en/blog) / 3. CME-3B Exam for Saudi Securities Brokers: Full Guide CME-3B Exam for Saudi Securities Brokers: Full Guide ==================================================== 2026-10-10 / 2 weeks ago The syllabus learning map in the official **CME-3B** study material lists 25 learning elements, and the exam paper carries 25 questions. One question per element, and that is not guesswork. The Examination Specification table at the back of the workbook states the split outright: 13 questions for the first element and 12 for the second. Therefore anyone reading the learning map line by line knows the paper before entering the exam room. What is the CME-3B exam? ------------------------ **CME-3B** is the Saudi regulatory paper of the securities brokers certificate, and the Capital Market Authority requires it from every person being registered to carry out domestic or international equity brokerage. The Financial Academy delivers it in cooperation with the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, in Arabic and English, over 30 minutes with a pass mark of 17. The other half of the certificate is **CME-3A** "Securities", since the professional certificate follows only when a candidate passes both parts. The paper is known in advance: 25 questions, fixed split -------------------------------------------------------- Element Governing regulation Questions Published weight One Market Conduct Regulations 13 52% Two Capital Market Institutions' Conduct 12 48% **Total** — **25** **100%** Notice the match: 13 out of 25 equals 52%, while 12 out of 25 equals 48%. In other words, the two percentages published on the Financial Academy page are not an estimate of each chapter's weight; they are the question counts restated as percentages. Nevertheless the Institute keeps a stated margin: "the number of questions tested in each element should not change by more than plus or minus 2". ![CME-3B question split: 13 and 12, pass mark 17](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17916547820.jpeg "CME-3B question split: 13 and 12, pass mark 17") A pass mark of 17 out of 25 — that is 68% of the paper ------------------------------------------------------ A published pass mark of "17 marks" looks neutral until you divide it by 25. The requirement is 68% of the paper, which leaves a margin of eight questions. Besides that, time presses: 25 questions in 30 minutes means 72 seconds per question. The revision questions in the workbook are short scenarios applying a regulatory article to a client situation, not recall drills. Therefore the speed with which you identify the relevant regulation matters as much as memorising its text. One regulation governs almost the whole CME-3B exam --------------------------------------------------- The two chapter titles suggest two regulations of equal weight, although the truth is narrower. Of the 25 syllabus elements, 23 cite the **Market Conduct Regulations**, while only two cite the Capital Market Institutions Regulations: Article 27 on gifts and inducements, and Article 29 on confidentiality. Consequently the exam is, at its core, an exam on a single regulation read from Article 2 through Article 19. ### What the first element covers — Market Conduct Regulations 1. The prohibition of manipulative and deceptive acts or practices, and the acts that count as such (Part 2, Articles 2 and 3). 2. Rumours, when a person is treated as having made an untrue statement, and responsibility for it (Part 4, Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10). 3. The definition of inside information, the scope of securities it covers, direct and indirect trading, and who counts as an "insider" (Part 3, Article 4). 4. Prohibitions on disclosing inside information, and likewise on trading upon it (Part 3, Articles 5 and 6). ### What the second element covers — Capital Market Institutions' Conduct The second element moves from prohibitions to operating duties, since it opens with the conduct expected where a client is suspected of manipulating the market or trading on inside information (Article 11). The articles then follow one order: prioritising client transactions, timely execution, best execution as agent and principal, allocation, churning, aggregation of orders, publishing research and recommendations, and conduct barred while a recommendation stands (Articles 12 to 19). Finally come gifts and inducements and client confidentiality. Who is this exam for? --------------------- The Financial Academy page sets the audience out: "all persons to be registered to carry out domestic or international equity brokerage activities, across all job categories, at a capital market institution". No prior certificate, training programme or academic qualification applies, and likewise the CMA guideline confirms that the exams are "available to everyone, Saudis and non-Saudis". One small difference separates the two exam pages, since **CME-3B** appears under two job families — "Deal Brokerage" and "Trading and Execution" — whereas **CME-3A** appears under the first alone. ![CME-3A versus CME-3B: duration, pass mark and fees](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17916547821.jpeg "CME-3A versus CME-3B: duration, pass mark and fees") Two exams, not three: what sets the broker path apart ----------------------------------------------------- The CMA guideline's table of required exams by function asks securities brokers for two exams only. It does not list the general paper [CME-1B](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-1b-guide) among them, whereas the compliance and AML function needs three, as in our [CME-2B guide](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-2b-exam-saudi-compliance). As for [CME-1A and CME-1B](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-1a-vs-cme-1b), they are the requirement for general registrable functions. Item CME-3A CME-3B Exam provider Chartered Institute Financial Academy Duration 120 minutes 30 minutes Pass mark 70 17 Chapters 9 2 Estimated study hours 80 hours 50 hours Published fee SAR 2,100 SAR 1,700 So the full path runs to 130 study hours and SAR 3,800: 150 minutes in the exam room against 130 hours at the desk. Note that the guideline still shows older fees — SAR 900 and SAR 1,600 — but the registration page governs payment, and every attempt is charged afresh. Two different retake policies inside one path --------------------------------------------- This is the most important operational detail in the path. Because the provider of **CME-3B** is the Academy and the provider of **CME-3A** is the Chartered Institute, each exam sits under its own section of the professional exams policy: 1. **CME-3B** at the Academy: up to 6 attempts within 12 months of the first attempt, no interval between attempts one and three, then two calendar weeks between every attempt after that. 2. **CME-3A** at the Institute: no retake until 3 days have passed, a maximum of 3 attempts within 12 months, then a 6-week rest period, then three further attempts. 3. Challenging a question is open for **CME-3B** within 3 working days for a SAR 400 fee, refunded if an error is established, with a decision in 20 working days. By contrast the Institute runs no review service, only a feedback form within 48 hours. 4. Missing an Academy exam consumes the fee, although it does not count as an attempt. A final detail costs money too: candidates must arrive 30 minutes before Academy exams and 20 minutes before Institute exams, and latecomers risk refusal. Likewise the Institute's policy bans the calculator outright, a constraint that bites **CME-3A** with its accounting and analysis chapters. The study material — and a window closing before the end of 2026 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The official **CME-3B** study material is a Chartered Institute workbook hosted on the Financial Academy domain, and its first page declares: Edition 1, publication date October 2022, syllabus version 1, and "will cover exams from 1 February 2023 to 31 December 2026". One detail matters for anyone studying in Arabic: the English workbook version is 1.10 dated August 2026, while the Arabic is 1.2 dated June 2024. Therefore check every regulatory article against its published text on the Authority's website. How to study for CME-3B in 50 hours ----------------------------------- 1. Firstly, start with the learning map at the back of the workbook, not chapter one, because the 25 elements are your question list and each carries its article number. 2. Secondly, read the Market Conduct Regulations in full once before you open the workbook. 3. Give half the time to Articles 4, 5 and 6 — inside information, insiders and the prohibitions — since they are the densest part of the first element. 4. Treat the second element as a sequence: a client order arrives, then it is prioritised, executed, allocated and aggregated. Thus Articles 12 to 17 tell the same story in order. 5. Finally, work the 25 revision questions under a 72-second timer, but do not judge your readiness by that score alone. Frequently asked questions about the CME-3B exam ------------------------------------------------ ### Do I need CME-1B before CME-3B? The Authority's table does not ask securities brokers for it, since the function requires two exams: CME-3A and CME-3B. Likewise the exam page sets no prior certificate. But the job title decides, so check the table against your own function. ### How many questions does CME-3B have, and what is the pass mark? 25 questions split 13 and 12 across the two elements, with a pass mark of 17 — that is 68%. This appears in the Examination Specification table, and therefore it is not an estimate. ### Which should I sit first, CME-3A or CME-3B? No order is mandatory. Nevertheless the Institute's retake rules are harsher, so risk logic favours starting with CME-3A. Passing one without the other earns no certificate. ### Which language should I sit the exam in? The exam runs in Arabic and English. However, the Institute's policy states that no exam language change service exists, so settle the choice at registration. ### Is the study material enough on its own? The professional exams policy answers plainly: exams are built on the exam specification and not on the books and training programme content. So the specification is the reference. Sources ------- - Capital Market Authority — [Guideline for the CMA qualification exams](https://cma.gov.sa/AboutCMA/CME/Documents/CMEExamsGuidelineAR.pdf): the function table, syllabus content and fee schedule. - Financial Academy — [CME-3B exam page](https://fa.gov.sa/Services/ExamDetails/313114c3-44db-4234-b097-af0d00b311b4): duration, pass mark, fee and element weights. - Financial Academy — [Professional exams policy](https://fa.gov.sa/exams-policies): retake, review and attendance rules. - The official CME-3B study material: the Examination Specification table and the syllabus learning map. At Hespah Academy we build our Saudi capital market programmes on that same official syllabus; the details are in the [professional certifications section](https://hespah.com/en/blog/section/professional-certifications) and the [courses page](https://hespah.com/en/courses). *This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace reviewing the official sources or consulting a specialist before taking any action.* Articles you might like ----------------------- [![Management Discussion in the Board Report: the CMA Draft](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/249/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-24 ### Management Discussion in the Board Report: the CMA Draft The CMA draft requires a separate management discussion section in listed companies' annual Board report. 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