It was my privilege to moderate what I think was the most interesting presentation during the NIBA September Conference. I moderated the NFA Board of Directors IB & CTA Representatives panel. Paul Georgy, GIB, Jeff Malec, IIB, James Koutoulas, CTA and John Roe, CTA all spoke to a packed audience of the NFA registrants they represent. All four panelists are NIBA members.
The session focused on what NFA IB and CTA representatives do and what they hope to accomplish through their participation on the NFA Board. Paul Georgy has served as the representative for GIBs for several years. He pointed out the NFA is very aware that GIBs play an essential role in the industry, and give the IB opinion and views significant weight in NFA Board decisions. He indicated that the NFA IB Advisory Committee which meets several times a year to advise the NFA Board on actions which will affect all IBs, is well respected and can and should be used as a resource by IBs who have NFA related questions. Melinda Schramm and Rodney Dow, both members of the NIBA Board of Directors, serve on this NFA Advisory Committee. Although Jeff, James and John have been NFA representatives for less than a year, they have been effective voices for both the IB and CTA communities, and indicated they will continue to push for further customer protections, and more transparency and consistency from the regulators.
I was impressed with the dedication and passion of each panelist. They all sincerely want to help make the futures industry a safe place for customers to invest and a good business choice for brokers. Each of them was asked to submit a follow-article for this newsletter and each of the panelists invite you to contact him directly to discuss any matter regarding the NFA that is important to you.
Paul Georgy, Allendale Inc. pgeorgy@allendale-inc.com
Jeff Malec, Attain Capital jmalec@attaincapital.com
James Koutoulas, Typhon Capital jk@typhoncap.com
John Roe, BTR Trading jroe@btrtrading.com
Mike Burke, CEO, HighGround Trading Group Inc.; NIBA Board of Directors. mikeb@highgroundtrading.com.
