CM-SIP Exam Guide (Formerly M6A): Format & Tips

CM-SIP is the CMFAS product knowledge module on Specified Investment Products: derivatives, structured products and contracts for differences. It replaced the old M6A paper, and the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) runs it.

Its full name is Capital Markets, Specified Investment Products: Derivatives and Collective Investment Schemes (SIP). Expect payoff calculations and scenario questions, not definitions.

CM-SIP exam format at a glance

Who needs CM-SIP

CM-SIP is a product knowledge module for representatives who deal in the more complex capital markets products. You take it alongside the Rules, Ethics and Skills paper for your role. IBF's examination details page maps each role to its modules.

IBF also offers CM-CMP, a combined module that covers CM-EIP and CM-SIP together. Exemptions from CM-SIP are set out in MAS Notice SFA 04-N22. Confirm your own requirement with your compliance department.

The CM-SIP syllabus: 12 topics

• Overview of derivatives
• Futures, forwards and swaps
• Futures strategies
• Options
• Structured warrants and daily leveraged certificates
• Barrier options, binary options and callable contracts
• Structured deposits and other structured products
• Structured notes
• Structured funds
• Contracts for differences (CFDs)
• Key product and investment risks for derivatives and structured products
• Case studies

Where candidates lose marks

• Option payoffs. Profit, loss and breakeven for calls, puts and the common strategies. Draw the payoff before you calculate.
• Daily leveraged certificates. The leverage resets every day, so returns over several days do not simply multiply.
• Barrier and callable products. What happens when the barrier is touched, and what the investor receives.
• Margin and marking to market. Initial margin, maintenance margin and when a margin call is made.
• Case studies. Several questions hang off one client scenario, so misreading it costs more than one mark.

Check IBF's examination rules for which calculators are allowed before exam day.

How to pass CM-SIP first time

The pass mark is 70%, so plan to score higher than that in practice. A mock score that only just clears 70% will not survive a bad day.

• Work by chapter, not by calendar. Read the chapter in the official study text, then drill that chapter's questions until you score 80% or better on it.
• Read every explanation, including for questions you got right. A lucky guess hides a gap you will meet again in the exam.
• Sit full timed mocks before the real paper. 80 questions in 2 hours 30 minutes, in one sitting, with no notes. Timing problems only show up under exam conditions.
• Keep a list of what you got wrong and redo it. Most candidates lose marks on the same few rules again and again.
• Answer everything. There is no negative marking, so never leave a question blank.

Registration, fees and results

You register through the IBF Portal. As at 20 September 2026 IBF lists the exam fee as S$207.10 for corporate members and S$250.70 for non-corporate members, inclusive of GST. IBF can revise its fees, so confirm the amount on the IBF page when you book.

Your result appears on screen when you finish the paper, and the result slip can be printed from your IBF Portal account on the next business day.

Practise for CM-SIP

CMFASPrep has CM-SIP practice questions for all 12 topics, including payoff calculations and case studies, and full timed mocks at the real 80-question length. See CM-SIP practice questions and mock exams, or start with the free CMFAS mock exam.