FRM Part 2 Current Issues November 2025: How to Prepare for the Most Unpredictable Section

Kateryna Myrko
3 hours ago
5 min read

If your exam is only weeks away, your FRM Part 2 Current Issues November 2025 plan should prioritize clarity over coverage. You can’t read the entire internet; you can master the specific GARP-required themes, understand why they matter, and practice turning fast-moving headlines into structured, defensible answers. Here’s a focused approach built around official topic guidance and the current reading list.

FRM Part 2 Current Issues November 2025: What “Current” actually means

“Current Issues” is deliberately dynamic. For November 2025, the official reading set centers on post-2023 banking stresses, AI in finance, interest-rate and inflation shocks, the private-credit boom, rising sovereign debt risks, crypto regulation, and digital resilience/cyber stability, alongside macro-financial policy chapters from major central-bank bodies. Treat these as anchor themes—the exam won’t test breaking news, but it will expect you to apply risk frameworks to these areas with up-to-date judgment.

Your litmus test: For each theme, you should be able to answer in 90 seconds:

What happened / is happening?
Why does it matter for risk?
Which metrics, controls, or policies mitigate it?

If you can do that, you’re ready for most Current Issues vignettes.

Build a high-yield reading workflow (not a reading marathon)

Use this three-stage loop to squeeze value from every official reading in FRM Part 2 Current Issues November 2025:

Skim the executive core. Read the executive summary, key charts, and the “policy implications / recommendations” section first. Write a one-line risk thesis (e.g., “Rapid growth in private credit shifts credit intermediation outside the perimeter, complicating liquidity backstops and data visibility.”)
Map the risk mechanics. Capture drivers → channels → outcomes:
- Drivers: e.g., rate volatility, AI adoption, bank funding mix, leverage, cyber dependencies.
- Transmission channels: market/liquidity spirals, run dynamics, model/operational fail points, sovereign-bank loop.
- Outcomes: capital/liquidity strain, procyclicality, resolution challenges, conduct/AI governance failures.
Attach instruments & controls. List the two or three measurements (e.g., LCR/NSFR deltas, maturity gap, stress loss at ES level, run-off rates, AI model risk controls), plus policies (buffers, margin floors, playbooks, governance).

Limit yourself to a one-page brief per theme—you’ll actually remember it.

The core themes—what to know (and how to be examined)

2023 bank failures → resolution & liquidity lessons. Expect questions that link deposit mix, unrealized AFS/HTM losses, and interest-rate risk management to run dynamics and resolution playbooks. Be ready to explain how LCR/NSFR and central-bank facilities interact with market confidence, and what went right/wrong in supervision and crisis tooling.
AI in finance (use and risk). The exam will emphasize model risk governance over coding details: data quality, explainability, bias, drift/monitoring, and human-in-the-loop controls. Anchor your answers to purpose → risk → control: why the AI is used, what could fail (privacy, fairness, fragility), and which controls (validation standards, A/B monitoring, kill-switches, documentation) mitigate it.
Interest-rate & inflation shock. Current Issues expects you to connect macro shifts to risk metrics: duration and convexity stress, deposit beta behavior, hedging slippage, and the P&L/OCI interface that turns rate moves into solvency and liquidity challenges—particularly for banks outside the largest advanced economies.
Private credit’s ascent. Focus on opacity, leverage, liquidity mismatch, and interconnections with banks and insurers. Be ready to evaluate scenarios where pricing gaps widen, fund gates activate, or collateral valuations reprice—and to propose data, disclosure, and liquidity-risk mitigants.
Rising public-debt risks. Link sovereign debt dynamics to bank capital, collateral frameworks, and market liquidity (e.g., margin spiral risks). Show you can distinguish cyclical vs. structural drivers and cite policy levers (terming-out, fiscal anchors, prudential buffers).
Crypto regulation (unbacked assets focus). Expect comparisons of activity-based vs. entity-based oversight, treatment of unbacked tokens in prudential regimes, and the transmission channels from crypto distress to traditional finance (custody, collateral, payment rails).
Digital resilience. Translate cyber and third-party concentration risk into operational-resilience outcomes: impact tolerances, incident response, testing, and critical service mapping. Tie tech outages to liquidity and settlement risk, not just IT controls.

Turn headlines into answers: a repeatable case method

When a vignette cites a recent event or policy note, run this five-step script:

Identify the theme. (Which of the anchors above is it?)
State the risk thesis in one line. (What’s the core vulnerability?)
Quantify or qualify impact. Mention the right metric (e.g., deposit run-off, spread moves at stress, ES vs. VaR, capital/liq buffers).
Name the control or policy. Be specific: buffer type, margin floor, model-risk standard, data/reporting fix, contingency funding tool.
Close with supervision/coordination. For cross-sector issues, note data gaps and supervisory perimeter alignment.

This structure converts messy stems into crisp, full-credit responses.

A two-week plan that fits real life

Week 1 (front-load understanding)

Day 1–2: Bank-failures & resolution + Interest-rate shock.
Day 3: Private credit + Sovereign debt.
Day 4: AI in finance.
Day 5: Crypto regulation.
Day 6: Digital resilience.
Day 7: Mixed quiz (30–40 items) drawing from all briefs.

Week 2 (application & recall)

Mon–Wed: One mini-case per theme daily: write a 6-sentence answer using the five-step script.
Thu: 60–90 minute mixed Current Issues block at exam pace.
Fri: Tighten your one-pagers; bold the two metrics and two controls per theme.
T-1: Light skim and sleep.

How to stay updated—without going down a rabbit hole

For FRM Part 2 Current Issues November 2025, you want signal, not noise:

Track official communiqués and executive summaries from the same institutions that appear in the reading list. Ignore commentary; prioritize primary material.
Watch for policy finalizations or implementation notes that tweak the risk picture (e.g., margining, buffers, disclosure timelines). You don’t need every footnote—just the implications for liquidity, capital, and governance.
Keep a “delta log”: one sentence per theme noting any material development since your last pass. If it doesn’t change the risk thesis or controls, don’t chase it.

Exam-day tactics for Current Issues

Do it while fresh. If the section appears early in a session, capitalize. If late, use the five-step script to stay concise.
Name the control. Answers that specify which buffer, which model-risk practice, or which liquidity tool outperform generic “improve governance” phrasing.
Don’t over-reach. If a choice goes beyond the supervisory perimeter or contradicts basic prudential logic, eliminate it.
Answer everything. Eliminate, pick, move—Current Issues rewards judgment more than algebra.

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