Free CISI Corporate Finance Regulation mock exam
Sit the whole regulation paper: 50 questions running from FSMA and the Companies Act to the conduct rules, the governance codes, the Takeover Code and the listing and AIM rules, under a one-hour clock. Free, no sign-up, with a weighted score and an explanation for every answer.
What is on the CISI Corporate Finance Regulation mock exam?
One full Corporate Finance Regulation practice paper: 50 questions in 60 minutes, split across the five syllabus elements in the same proportions as the real exam, with 16 on managing regulatory obligations and 14 on the UK regulatory environment. Score 35 out of 50 to meet the 70% practice threshold, then review every answer.
- Questions
- 50 original practice questions
- Time
- 60 minutes
- Practice threshold
- 70%, which is 35 of 50
- Access
- Free, with no account or card
How the paper is weighted
Corporate Finance Regulation is the regulation unit of the CISI Level 3 Certificate in Corporate Finance; Corporate Finance Technical Foundations is the other. Five elements share 50 questions, and the first two take 30 of them, so the paper tests the rulebook behind corporate finance work far more than the deals themselves.
| Element | Questions |
|---|---|
| 1. The Regulatory Environment in the UK | 14 |
| 2. Managing Regulatory Obligations | 16 |
| 3. Corporate Governance | 5 |
| 4. Takeovers and Mergers | 7 |
| 5. Equity Capital Markets | 8 |
| Total | 50 |
Managing Regulatory Obligations is 16 marks and The Regulatory Environment in the UK is 14, 30 of the 50 together. Equity Capital Markets is eight, Takeovers and Mergers is seven and Corporate Governance is five. The two transaction elements that sound most like the job are 15 marks between them, fewer than the conduct rules on their own.
For the cleanest rehearsal, set aside the full 60 minutes, avoid notes and answer every question. There is no negative marking on the real paper, so a guess is always better than a blank. The mock hides feedback until submission and warns you before handing in a paper with blanks.
Full practice paper
50 questions. 60 minutes. No sign-up.
Sit the paper in one go if you can. Answers and explanations stay hidden until you submit, so the score is a more useful rehearsal than an instant-feedback quiz.
The timer starts when you press the button. Reloading or leaving the page ends this sitting.
Sample Corporate Finance Regulation questions, with answers
8 questions at the standard of the paper above, weighted towards the elements that carry the most marks. Pick an answer to see whether you were right and why. None of these appear in the timed mock, so working through them first costs you nothing when you sit it.
Before losses arise, the PRA intervenes in a bank's risky expansion plans. This illustrates supervision that is:
Not quite. The answer is C.
Intervening in a bank's risky expansion plans before any losses arise illustrates the PRA's forward-looking approach: it assesses risks that could emerge in future as well as current ones, and aims to intervene early. The PRA's supervision is also based on judgement and focused, but those characteristics describe how it assesses whether firms are safe and sound and where it concentrates its attention (on the firms and issues posing the greatest risk), not acting before losses arise. A retrospective approach would look back at losses already incurred, the opposite of intervening before they arise.
What is the maximum fine that may accompany a prison sentence for breaching the general prohibition, assuming conviction in the Crown Court?
Not quite. The answer is D.
A Crown Court conviction for breaching the general prohibition can bring up to two years in prison, a fine with no upper limit, or both, so a fine may accompany a prison sentence and has no maximum amount. Nil would be right only if prison and a fine were alternatives, but the court may impose both. £5,000 is wrong because a Crown Court fine for this offence has no fixed ceiling, and no limit is tied to the value of the transaction.
What sanction distinguishes a conviction for insider dealing under the Criminal Justice Act 1993 from the FCA's civil enforcement of market abuse?
Not quite. The answer is A.
Imprisonment is available on conviction for insider dealing under the Act, whereas civil enforcement of market abuse carries no custodial sanction. A financial penalty does not distinguish the two, because the court can impose an unlimited fine and the FCA an unlimited civil penalty. Public censure and restitution are among the FCA's civil tools for market abuse, so neither marks out the criminal route.
Under the Consumer Duty, the main comparison when assessing price and value is between the price paid and:
Not quite. The answer is B.
Fair value under the price and value outcome depends on a fair link between what the customer pays and the benefits the customer receives, so the main comparison is with the benefits received. The firm’s profit target is a commercial measure for the firm, not a measure of value to the customer; the price of the cheapest competing product may inform the assessment but cannot show fair value without considering benefits; and the customer’s available income goes to affordability, not to value.
A company delegates preparation of a culture review to its chief executive. Under the UK Corporate Governance Code, ultimate responsibility for aligning purpose, values, strategy and culture rests with:
Not quite. The answer is A.
Under the UK Code, the responsibility rests with the board collectively. Individual leadership roles and a committee's pay remit do not replace the board's responsibility for alignment.
The detailed provisions of the Takeover Code are applied:
Not quite. The answer is B.
The detailed rules and appendices operate alongside the General Principles. Compliance must respect the Code's underlying purpose as well as its detailed requirements.
What is the immediate consequence for an AIM company’s securities if its nominated adviser resigns before a replacement is appointed?
Not quite. The answer is C.
An AIM company must retain a nominated adviser at all times. Loss of the adviser results in suspension of trading. Cancellation is a distinct later consequence if the replacement requirement is not met. Fines and public censure are disciplinary sanctions, rather than the immediate trading consequence specified for losing the nomad.
When must an AIM company notify the resignation of one of its directors under AIM Rule 17?
Not quite. The answer is C.
Rule 17 requires an AIM company to notify the market without delay when a director is appointed, resigns or is dismissed, stating the date of the change. Three days echoes the period for a person discharging managerial responsibilities to notify the issuer and the FCA of their own dealings, which current UK MAR sets at three working days; month end is the deadline for an issuer's update of its total voting rights; and half-yearly results are a periodic report that cannot replace an event notification.
Where the marks go on this paper
Managing Regulatory Obligations is the largest element at 16 marks, and it is where candidates who work on deals lose the most. It is the FCA conduct rulebook as it applies to a corporate finance firm: client categorisation, communications and financial promotions, conflicts of interest, personal account dealing, suitability, best execution, money laundering and customer due diligence, bribery, insider dealing and market abuse. Each topic is a rule with conditions attached, and the questions turn on the conditions.
The Regulatory Environment in the UK is 14 marks, and most of it is company law. The Companies Act provisions on pre-emption rights, reduction of capital, financial assistance, squeeze-out and sell-out, shareholder meetings and directors' duties are examined section by section, beside the general prohibition under FSMA, restructuring plans set against schemes of arrangement and voluntary arrangements, and the scope of UK MiFID. It rewards knowing which statute says what, and at what threshold.
Equity Capital Markets is eight marks on the listing rules, sponsors, inside information, major shareholding notifications, the class tests, buybacks and stabilisation, and the AIM rules and the nominated adviser. Takeovers and Mergers is seven on the Takeover Code: who it applies to, the six General Principles, announcements and secrecy, and the offer timetable. Both read like the job, which is why they are easy to under-revise: the questions ask for the rule, not the practice.
Corporate Governance is five marks across four codes, the UK Corporate Governance Code, the QCA Code, the Wates Principles and the Stewardship Code, plus the ESG expectations on corporate finance firms. Five marks is a tenth of the paper, and the codes overlap enough that the questions usually ask which code applies to which company. An evening with the four side by side is the cheapest gain on the paper.
How to use your result
Treat 70% as a practice threshold, not a readiness promise. A stronger signal is a run of timed scores above the threshold with no element repeatedly falling behind. On a 50-question paper each question is two percentage points, so three careless answers separate 35 from 32. The first two elements are 30 of the 50 marks: if both sit under 70%, the three smaller elements cannot carry the total. Read the element breakdown before the total, and treat any element under half as the next thing to revise. No mock score can predict an individual result.
Use the answer review to understand each miss, then revisit the relevant part of the Corporate Finance Regulation exam guide. To drill a single topic rather than sit a whole paper, start with the free Corporate Finance Regulation practice questions.
Looking for official material? Corporate Finance Regulation past papers: what actually exists explains what CISI actually publishes and how to combine it with question practice. For more full papers, see the paid plans, from £59.
Independent practice material: PasskeyPrep is not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. These questions were written independently against the syllabus. They are not copied from a live CISI exam or official past paper.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Corporate Finance Regulation mock exam really free?
Yes. Every one of the 50 questions is free to sit, with no account, email address or card. Submit the paper and you get a weighted score, a breakdown across the five elements and an explanation for each answer.
Does this mock match the real Corporate Finance Regulation exam format?
It runs 50 questions against a 60-minute timer, marks 70% as the practice threshold and follows the five element weightings in the syllabus. Every question is original PasskeyPrep material written to syllabus Version 21, not taken from CISI or its exam platform, and PasskeyPrep is independent of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.
Which paper is this?
The regulation unit of the CISI Level 3 Certificate in Corporate Finance, written against syllabus Version 21 and workbook Edition 16. The certificate takes two units: this one and Corporate Finance Technical Foundations, which covers the numbers side of the work and is a separate exam. PasskeyPrep covers the regulation unit only.
Who takes Corporate Finance Regulation?
People working in corporate finance and around it: advisory and corporate broking teams, equity capital markets, private equity and venture capital, and the lawyers and accountants who support deals. The Certificate in Corporate Finance appears on the FCA's appropriate qualification tables for corporate finance work, so check what your firm expects before you book.
Turn the element breakdown into a study plan.
Get the full Corporate Finance Regulation question bank of 600 questions, nine timed mock papers, 39 study-note sections, 192 flashcards and weak-spot tracking as part of a paid pass: £59 for this paper, or £89 for all fifteen.