NASD Changes Principal Exams: Series 24 and Series 26 change on July 2nd

Dearborn's Revised Test Prep Materials Avaliable now
- Many Rush to Take Current Exams Before New Questions are Added -

New York, NY/Chicago, IL - June 6, 2001 - The NASD will start administering its new Series 24 and Series 26 exams on July 2, 2001, and securities professionals in this country's approximately 5,400 brokerage firms are now faced with studying and taking the tests before that date, or facing more challenging exams with new questions. Dearborn Financial Services, a Kaplan Professional Company, and a leading provider of securities and insurance licensing training and continuing education, anticipates increased enrollments for the Series 24 classes in June, as students rush to take the current exam.

Dearborn's current Series 24 and Series 26 prep materials are available for those who wish to take the exams before July 2nd. For those who are studying for the new Series 24, Dearborn Financial Services has updated test materials available now in the new PASSTRAK Premier Set, which includes an interactive Series 24 License Exam Manual, state-of-the-art Drill and Practice exam prep CD-Rom and a Print Practice Final Exam Set. These materials will be used in Dearborn's classes nationwide after June 28. Dearborn will provide Series 26 students with a new Test Alert to accompany current Series 26 Dearborn materials.

"The new Series 24 Exam will be especially challenging for supervisory candidates at banks as well as insurance company broker-dealers who may not have exposure to trading and OTC market making activity," notes Marcia Burak, Vice President of Securities for Dearborn. "A major reason for the NASD's increased emphasis on equity trading in this exam is the rapid growth of electronic trading systems. These new systems created a need for numerous rule changes and also generated new compliance issues that are reflected on the new exam. The detailed level and scope of these changes makes the new Series 24 one of the more challenging NASD licensing exams."

The new Series 24 exam changes from 3 hours to 3.5 hours, and with 25 additional questions, the new test has a greater emphasis on NASD over-the-counter trading and market making regulation, as well as sales supervision and customer accounts. In particular, there is more focus on issues such as: Nasdaq Short Sale Rule; Limit Order Protection and Display Rule; Trading Halts; ECNs including SelectNet and ACES; expanded testing of SOES rules; ACT trade reporting; and expanded testing of OTCBB.

The new Series 26 exam shifts from 2 hours to 150 minutes, includes 10 additional questions, and will be divided into five new categories: Hiring and Qualification; Training of Representatives; Supervision; Sales Practices; Business Processing and Recordkeeping Rules. "The revised Series 26 exam has an increased emphasis on supervisory procedures related to mutual funds and variable products, as well as rule updates," explained Deirdre Patton, Dearborn's Vice President of Faculty. "There has been an increase in regulatory enforcement issues relating to switching of mutual funds, 1035 exchanges and suitability of variable and mutual fund products. The new Series 26 test reflects the compliance and supervisory concerns specifically related to these products."

Dearborn's materials are available at www.dearborn.com, or by calling 1-800-824-2742.

Dearborn Financial Services (www.dearborn.com) is a leading provider of innovative education and compliance solutions to the financial services industry, offering an integrated portfolio that includes registration services, firm element needs analysis and training plan development, securities and insurance prelicensing training, continuing education, and compliance management services. For more than 30 years Dearborn has partnered with securities firms, insurance companies, brokerage houses, and banks to provide solutions that maximize training resources, boost productivity and optimize market performance. Dearborn Financial Services is a division of Kaplan Professional (www.kaplanprofessional.com), a unit of Kaplan, Inc. that provides licensing and continuing education training, certification, and professional development courses for securities, insurance, financial services, legal, IT, and real estate professionals and corporations. Kaplan, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

Press Contact:
Liz Lindley, (212) 492-5890  liz_lindley@kaplan.com

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