Series III-A
Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund)
50 questionsPass mark 60%Negative marking 25% / wrong answer
NISM Series III-A: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund)
The compliance paper for market firms outside the fund industry: how the financial system and its regulators are set up, what the compliance job is, and the main laws and SEBI rules a firm must follow, from insider trading and fraud to money laundering and the rules for each kind of firm.
Questions1001 mark each
Duration120 min2 hours
Pass mark60%60 of 100 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 marks off per wrong answer
NISM Series III-A Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund)
Exam rules read on NISM's site on 17 October 2026. Check the current rules on NISM's site (opens in a new tab)
The NISM-Series-III-A: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund) Certification Examination is 100 questions worth 100 marks in 120 minutes, and 60% is the pass mark. A wrong answer costs 0.25 marks and a blank costs nothing, so the two are not the same choice. The certificate is valid 3 years from the date of the examination. Every figure here was read from NISM's own published pages on 17 October 2026.
What the Series III-A certification is for
The compliance paper for market firms outside the fund industry: how the financial system and its regulators are set up, what the compliance job is, and the main laws and SEBI rules a firm must follow, from insider trading and fraud to money laundering and the rules for each kind of firm.
Who takes it
People in the compliance function of firms such as stock brokers, depository participants, merchant bankers, underwriters, bankers to an issue, debenture trustees and credit rating agencies.
Why it is on this site
The paper about the rules behind every trade. Investor protection and fair markets, which the site's lessons mention often, are this paper's subject.
Exam format at a glance
Questions1001 mark each
Total marks100100 × 1
Duration120 min2 hours
Pass mark60%60 of 100 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 marks off per wrong answer
Certificate validity3 yearsfrom the date of the examination
100 multiple-choice questions of 1 mark each in 120 minutes. 60% to pass. A wrong answer loses a quarter of a mark.
The examination fee is deliberately not printed here. NISM publishes it per certification and revises it from time to time, and a fee is the one figure on a page like this that somebody acts on with money — read the current one on nism.ac.in.
How the marking works — and what the quiz here does with it
Each question carries 1 mark, so the paper is scored out of 100 and 60 marks are needed to pass. A wrong answer deducts 25% of the marks assigned to the question — 0.25 marks here. A question left unanswered scores nothing and deducts nothing, so a wrong answer and a blank are not equivalent, and deciding between them is part of what the paper tests.
The practice quiz here uses these same figures. Timed practice applies this pass mark and this deduction. Its clock runs at this paper's pace (120 minutes for 100 questions), scaled to the size of your set.
Syllabus units, and what each is worth
23 practice topics, in the order our questions are written. Each row links to the topic's full questions and answers. Each answer explains why the other options are wrong. No unit weightage was found in the official exam material, so this table has no marks column.
Test yourself on this syllabus
It is marked with the pass mark and negative marking shown above.
150 Series III-A practice questions
Answer one at a time and see the reason straight away. Or sit a timed set marked like this paper: 0.25 marks off for a wrong answer, 60% to pass.
Start practising →NISM Series III-A mock tests
Three fixed papers of 50 questions each, timed at this exam's pace, with its pass mark and negative marking. When you submit, you see your score and why each answer is right.
Take a mock test →Every series' practice set
The other certifications we hold questions for, each scored on its own published pass mark and marking rule — which are not the same as this paper's.
Browse every series →Which NISM exam applies to you
Which series fits your work, with the lessons and tools for each one.
Open the certification hub →The other certifications on this site
- Series VIII — Equity Derivatives
- Series V-A — Mutual Fund Distributors
- Series XV — Research Analyst
- Series VII — Securities Operations and Risk Management
- Series I — Currency Derivatives
- Series X-A — Investment Adviser (Level 1)
- Series IV — Interest Rate Derivatives
- Series VI — Depository Operations
- Series XVI — Commodity Derivatives
- Series XXI-A — Portfolio Management Services (PMS) Distributors
- Series XII — Securities Markets Foundation
- Series XIII — Common Derivatives
- Series IX — Merchant Banking
Sources & review date. The question count, total marks, duration, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity above come from NISM's own pages for the NISM-Series-III-A: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund) Certification Examination, last read on 17 October 2026. Marks per question, marks needed to pass and marks lost per wrong answer are worked out from those figures. We found no published marks for each unit of this exam, so none are shown here. Other weightage tables are estimates. The unit headings follow the order of these practice questions. Compare them with NISM's published unit list.
NISM Series III-A: common questions
How many questions are in the NISM Series III-A exam?
The NISM-Series-III-A: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Non-Fund) Certification Examination has 100 questions worth 100 marks in total, to be completed in 120 minutes (2 hours).
What is the passing score for NISM Series III-A?
60%, which on a 100-mark paper means 60 marks, calculated after negative marking has been applied to wrong answers. Checked against NISM's own published page for this examination on 17 October 2026.
Is there negative marking in NISM Series III-A?
Yes — 25% of the marks assigned to a question. Each question here carries 1 mark, so a wrong answer costs 0.25 marks. A question left unanswered neither earns nor deducts anything, so a wrong answer and a blank are not the same thing.
How long is the NISM Series III-A certificate valid?
3 years from the date of the examination. NISM also runs a Continuing Professional Education programme for its certifications. Confirm the current revalidation route on nism.ac.in before your certificate expires.
Are the practice questions on this page from the NISM Series III-A exam?
No. LearnNifty wrote all 150 of them from NISM's public syllabus for this certification. NISM does not publish its question bank. The questions help you practise the syllabus. They cannot predict the paper.
What does the NISM Series III-A syllabus cover?
Our practice questions for this certification are sorted into 23 topics: Introduction to the Financial System, Regulatory Framework – General View, Introduction to Compliance, Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and Rules, 1957, SEBI (Intermediaries) Regulations, 2008, SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations, 2003, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, SEBI (KYC Registration Agency) Regulations, 2011, SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2019, SEBI (Stock Brokers) Regulations, 1992, SEBI (Merchant Bankers) Regulations 1992, etc., SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2018, Depositories Act 1996, SEBI (Depositories and Participants) Regulations 2018, SEBI (Registrar to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents) Regulations, 1993, SEBI (Research Analyst) Regulations, 2014, SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013, SEBI (Debenture Trustees) Regulations, 1993, SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999, SEBI (Custodian) Regulations, 1996, Proxy Advisors. That is the structure the practice set follows. NISM publishes its own curriculum and test objectives for the examination on nism.ac.in, and the workbook current for your sitting is the only examinable material.
Where does LearnNifty get these NISM Series III-A exam figures from?
The question count, time, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity come from NISM's own exam pages, last read on 17 October 2026. The quiz here marks with the same figures. NISM changes them from time to time, so confirm them on nism.ac.in before you register.
Sit a Series III-A paper marked on the figures above
Series III-A questions written against the published syllabus and scored under this paper’s own rules — 60% to pass, 0.25 marks off for a wrong answer. Practice mode explains every option as you go. Timed practice hides answers until you submit.
Open the Series III-A practice questionsPaper Trading Try it on the practice trading desk