Nancy checks her margin account and notices she has an SMA balance in her account. A 10% stock dividend was declared this morning on one of the companies she had purchased on margin. She asks her RR how this will affect her SMA balance. How should the RR respond?

The RR should respond that her SMA balance will not include the dividend. When you have a margin account, any dividends declared have no effect on the SMA account until the margin loan is paid back. A margin account is essentially a loan from your brokerage firm. That loan must be paid off first before you collect any balances.