Frequently asked questions
The course
Who is this course for?
Working compliance professionals: surveillance analysts, compliance officers, investigators, and governance and risk practitioners at regulated financial institutions, and anyone new to the field seeking to start a career in trade surveillance. It is written for people who run alerts, investigations, and filings, or who are building towards that work. There are no formal prerequisites; Module 01 builds the market-structure foundations the rest of the course stands on.
What does it cover?
The whole discipline, first alert to final filing: market integrity and the market-abuse law of six jurisdictions (the US, UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia), the manipulation and insider-dealing typologies, surveillance systems and calibration, and the investigation lifecycle through to the filing decision. Eleven core modules (closing with the capstone investigation) and two elective modules, covering digital assets and communications surveillance. All thirteen are required for the certificate of completion. Around 54 hours of study in total.
Is it self-paced?
Yes, entirely. There are no cohorts, deadlines, or live sessions. Your progress is saved automatically and you can leave and resume at any point on any device with a browser.
Is this vendor training?
No. The course is vendor-neutral: it teaches the discipline itself, not a surveillance platform, so the knowledge transfers regardless of the tools your firm uses.
Was AI used to build this course?
Yes, with human review of every factual claim and verification of enforcement cases and statutory citations against primary sources. The AI Responsibility Statement sets out exactly how AI was used, the controls applied, and where you should exercise caution.
Buying
How much does it cost, and is it a subscription?
US$299, once. There is no subscription and no recurring fee. The purchase unlocks all thirteen modules, the knowledge assessments, and the certificate of completion path. Any applicable taxes are calculated and collected at checkout by our payment provider and shown before you pay. Payments are processed by Stripe; we never see your card details.
How long do I have access?
For as long as the service operates. If the service were ever to be retired, reasonable notice would be given.
Can I get a refund?
Yes: a full refund within 14 days of purchase, provided you have not progressed beyond Module 02. Progressing beyond Module 02 means opening any lesson or attempting any assessment in Module 03 or later. Write to support@irontide.academy from your registered email address. The full policy is in the terms of purchase.
Assessments and the certificate
How do the assessments work?
Every module closes with a 35-question knowledge assessment; the pass bar is 75 per cent. Questions are answerable from the module material. You can retake an assessment if you fail; repeated rapid attempts are rate-limited to keep the assessment meaningful. The capstone module is stage-gated: each stage of the investigation unlocks as you pass the one before it.
What do I get at the end?
A certificate of completion carrying your name, the completion date, and a unique serial number. It is earned by completing all 13 modules and their assessments, including both electives. Anyone can verify a certificate at learn.irontide.academy/verify, so an employer can confirm yours in seconds. You can download it as a PDF.
Is the certificate an accreditation?
No, and we say so plainly. It is a certificate of completion: it records that you completed the course and passed the assessments. It is not a professional qualification, a licence, or a certification by any regulator or professional body, and it carries no continuing education credit.
Content
How current is the material?
The course states its regulatory position as at the verification dates in its regulatory currency notices, and the content is periodically revised as regulation and market practice move. Revisions are included in your access at no further charge.
I think I found an error. What do I do?
Tell us: support@irontide.academy with the module and lesson reference. Substantiated corrections are applied to the live content. We treat good error reports as professional collaboration.