BCO Overview — Exam Format, Weighting, and How to Study

BCO overview (official CSI structure): 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, topic weightings, what gets tested, and a practical study strategy.

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Quick facts (official CSI exam structure)

* CSI notes: if you enrolled before July 5, 2023, the BCO exam is 3 hours and consists of 90 questions.

BCO rewards “branch supervisor” thinking:

is the KYC/account opening complete and defensible?
was disclosure delivered in the required form, with evidence?
is suitability reasonable and documented (especially leverage)?
do sales practices and communications stay inside acceptable standards?
if something goes wrong, do you log, escalate, investigate, and remediate correctly?

Source: CSI BCO Exam & Credits page. Target questions are proportional to 80 questions (rounded).

Exam Topics	Weight	Target questions (out of 80)	Chapters (CSI curriculum)
The Role of a Branch Compliance Officer	6%	5	1
Mutual Funds Industry Regulation	12%	10	2
Registration Requirements	12%	10	3
Account Opening	14%	11	4
Disclosure and Suitability Requirements	24%	19	5–6
Mutual Funds Performance Evaluation	8%	6	7
Dealing with Complaints	6%	5	8
Sales Representatives Supervision and Control Systems	18%	14	9–10

Use the Syllabus as your checklist by weighting.
Build a branch “supervision playbook” from the Cheatsheet: what to review, what to document, and when to escalate.
Drill scenarios: “What’s the deficiency?” → “What is the first correct action?” → “What evidence do we need?”
Do weekly timed mixed sets; keep a miss log with: cue, rule/theme, next action.

✅ Next: open the Study Plan or jump into the Syllabus.