Differences between the IAI Examination and the IfoA

[Sunit_K]

Hi there,
The course notes are majorly UK centric i.e. The main policies or the banking structures are explained as they are applicable in the UK.
Notably the central bank and the money market (the Indian money market has the primary and secondary markets whereas the London market has discount and repo markets etc).
Is this difference in the systems accounted for while setting the papers?
I am applying from the IAI, hence my question, can we answer in terms of the UK structure, or do we need additional reading?

Thank you.

 

[Graham Aylott]

I'm not very familiar with Indian exam papers. However, the UK exams papers under the current syllabus (ie from 2010 onwards) have almost no questions on the specific details of the UK financial system as set out at length in Chapter 28 of the textbook. For example, I don't think there have been any questions on topics such as the detailed balance sheet of a bank, securitisation and capital adequacy ratios. Instead the questions have tended to be high-level and iprinciples-based.

So, given that you have insufficient time to learn absolutely everything that is in the Core Reading, it probably makes sense to fcous more on those topics that have come up in past exams and so presumably are likely to come up again in the future. Practising the 2010-15 exam papers should give you a good feel for this. However, all of the material in Chapter 28 is in the Core Reading and so in theory could appear on the exam paper.