Which PICTURE statement displays a nine-digit account number with five leading asterisks?

The correct choice utilizes the PICTURE statement effectively to display a nine-digit account number with the specified prefix of five leading asterisks. The PICTURE format follows a structure where '9999' indicates the numeric portion of the account number, while the prefix option is employed to add five leading asterisks to the final output.

In this context, '9999' is not sufficient to represent a nine-digit number since it only accounts for four digits. However, the leading asterisks enhance the presentation by transforming the initial portion of the numeric output into the desired format. The prefix option specifically introduces a string of five asterisks before the numeric value, achieving the requirement of having leading symbols.

The other options may lack the correct combination or placement of the elements needed to instantiate this formatting correctly, either by misplacing the prefix or using an insufficient format specification. The choice that employs a prefix alongside a format capable of handling the digits ensures that the display is as required while adhering to SAS formatting conventions.