**NIBA asked all three new NFA Board Members to answer the question "What is the first thing you will do at your first NFA Board Meeting?" John submitted the following in behalf of James and himself. Jeff indicated he preferred to reach out to NFA members directly.
First, we would like to thank those who supported our bid to represent CTAs and CPOs on the NFA Board of Directors We would also like to thank the outgoing members of the board for their years of service. NFA staff has been extremely helpful in bringing us up to speed on the bureaucratic machinery which directs the futures industry's SRO, which we greatly appreciate as well.
We are taking special care to familiarize ourselves with the inner workings of the NFA, from its organization hierarchy to its committee structure. Achieving meaningful reform will require diligent deliberative efforts on the part of all those who represent their fellow registrants to the NFA. We are committed to bringing about reforms not only at the NFA, but in the industry at large. We welcome all who will commit to aiding this process, regardless of their viewpoint.
In our very first meeting we will address the one thing the NFA can do right now to affect justice for victims of recent FCM shenanigans: creating a consequence for violating NFA rules. The NFA owes it to commodity customers and its membership, especially those NFA members who remain incalculably damaged by MF Global CEO Jon Corzine’s infractions, to permanently bar him from membership and impose on him the maximum possible fine.
As NFA President Dan Roth noted in his testimony before the House Agriculture Committee, “one way to prevent fraud is to deter fraud through vigorous prosecutions of the laws that are on the books now.” Evidence is in the public domain of the most serious and unprecedented violations of NFA rules on the part of Mr. Corzine and MF Global. Regardless of the status of investigations of the alphabet soup of agencies investigating MF Global, NFA has an obligation to respond now. We will recommend that the Board direct the NFA's Business Conduct Committee to review the SIPA Trustee and House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations reports on MF Global and take action.
From there, we plan to address a host of issues, from reforming the NFA arbitration process to redeveloping the audit culture of the NFA to formally recommending bankruptcy reforms to Congress. We look forward to playing a role in restoring customer confidence in the system from which we all derive our livelihood. Much is at stake, but much is possible now which was not in the past. We believe we can achieve the reforms the industry needs to survive and thrive.
Sincerely,
John L. Roe & James Koutoulas
