The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has a barred a former representative of MML Investors Services for cheating on the Securities Industry Essentials exam.
According to FINRA's order, on March 22, 2024, MMLIS, a unit of MassMutual, filed a Form U5 disclosing that Joshua Ethan Scholnick had been "permitted to resign after receiving notification from FINRA with respect to an Event Incident Report stating he potentially was in possession of a mobile device during an SIE Exam."
On Aug. 25, 2023, while associated with MMLIS, Scholnick cheated during the SIE exam, "which Scholnick took from his home, he used his phone to access prohibited study materials to help him answer the test's questions," the order states.
He did so after acknowledging and agreeing to follow FINRA's SIE Rules of Conduct, which forbid possessing or using phones, notes and study materials during the exam.
The SIE exam is for prospective securities industry professionals and assesses a candidate's knowledge of basic securities industry information. It consists of 75 multiple-choice questions.
To pass the SIE exam, candidates must have a score of 70% or higher. They have an hour and 45 minutes to complete it.
Before taking the SIE exam, "Scholnick used his cell phone to take photographs of notes and reference materials that he had compiled to study" for the exam, the order states.
Those photographs were on Scholnick's phone on Aug. 25, 2023, "when he logged onto the remote testing platform from his home" to take the exam, the order continues.
"After logging into the remote testing platform and before starting the SIE examination, Scholnick was reminded by the examination proctor that he 'may not use [his] phone … during the exam' or 'have any powered electronic devices in the testing area,'" the exam states.
Scholnick "viewed photographs of the SIE study materials on his phone on numerous occasions" during the exam and "referred to his SIE examination study materials on his phone to help him answer the SIE examination questions," the order states.
He also "changed his answers to the SIE examination after referring to the study materials on his phone," FINRA said.
During the exam, "the proctor asked Scholnick why he was looking down continuously and twice told him not to look away from his laptop screen during the examination as it was a violation of the test rules. Scholnick completed his examination and exited the platform without first notifying the proctor," the order states.
Scholnick received a score of 65% and failed the test.
The complaints were filed by FINRA in September.
Scholnick consented to FINRA's findings without admitting or denying them when FINRA barred him Wednesday.
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