On Tuesday, February 6, the NFA held its annual members meeting. For the umpteenth year in a row, I was the only NFA member attending. I attended in order to present NFA staff members with questions from the NIBA membership - questions which IBs/CTAs might not want to ask the NFA directly. As they always are, NFA staff was very responsive, conducted themselves very professionally and responded to our inquiries.
This year, our membership had several questions for NFA staff. Here are two of those questions and the answers. The others will be posted in upcoming newsletters.
- From an IB -- while I understand why the principles of “best practices” is employed by NFA, it would be helpful if NFA would provide information about practical or specific ideas and solutions, especially in the areas of cybersecurity and recording.
NFA: The original Interpretative Notice (IN) on cybersecurity is nearly two years old. NFA is discussing updates which could include examples of incidents that should be reported, as well as additional training and workshops with an emphasis on the practical. The IN will also include FAQs. NIBA members are encouraged to suggestion questions and topics for the workshops and FAQs.
- From a CTA -- does the NFA tie the cards and fingerprints in synch with the FBI database continuously so that a wrong-doer registrant can be caught quickly when that wrong-doing occurs after the Series 3 license is initially issued?
NFA: NFA is not currently on the program which ties one agency with another in order to share this type of information. But, approval for the program is in process.
Let me, melinda@futuresrep.com or Ryan, ryan.griffeth@postrockbrokerage.com know if you have any questions, suggestions or comments on anything NFA-related. NIBA continues to have a respectful, professional relationship with NFA, its staff and all its officers - we’re happy to take a meeting or ask a question for the good of the IB/CTA community.
