NIBA Journal

Insights, analysis, and updates from the National Introducing Brokers Association

December 7, 2010

Interview with Bucky Isaacson: Co-founder CTA EXPO

Bucky Isaacson President, Futures Funding Consultants Inc. (NFA 1974) Program(s) Developed: Co-Chairman CTA Expo Chicago, New York Interview Date: December, 2010 Interviewed by John F. Gallwas - Founder of Striker Securities Bucky Isaacson became one of the early pioneers of managed futures when he joined a group in 1969 that developed a computerized trading system. From that point forward he has focused on developing managed futures business, particularly in Asia, and becoming a prominent leader in the managed futures field. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Futures Association and currently serves on the Board of directors of the National Introducing Brokers Association. He is President of Futures Funding Consultants with headquarters, located 30 miles south of San Francisco, in Woodside, California John Gallwas: According to BarclayHedge, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA) had $233.4B under management at the end of the 2ndQ of 2010, up...

By NIBARead article

November 11, 2010

1 min read

Updated NFA Documents

The NFA website has posted some updated documents including Disclosure Documents, Forex Reg Guide, Comp Rules 2-29, and the Self Examination Checklist. To view these documents please visit www.nfa.futures.org they will be listed under the NFA Today category.

NIBA Conference Session: Generating Website Traffic [VIDEO]

Website Traffic Generation and Leveraging Your NIBA Membership A LIVE Interactive Discussion | Shane Stiles, President of gate39media How can you generate more traffic to your brokerage website? How do you increase your online visibility? And how can the NIBA help? Answers to these questions and how IBs and CTAs can benefit from the current and future versions of the NIBA website. It was a pleasure to speak at the NIBA Conference last week, the conference was a huge success. For anyone who was unable to attend, the video and slides from my presentation Website Traffic Generation and Leveraging Your NIBA Membership can be viewed below. Website Traffic Generation and Leveraging Your NIBA Membership Presentation starts at 13:00 minute mark --> --> NIBA Chicago 2010 - Internet Visibility for Introducing Brokers and CTAs - Futures Marketing View more presentations from gate39media. Please feel free to contact me with any questions...

NIBA Session: Corn's Market Demand [VIDEO]

Corn's Market Demand: Where Do We Go From Here? Darin Newsom, Senior Analyst, DTN At the 2010 NIBA Conference, recognized analyst Darin Newsom of DTN provided attendees with a brief commentary on one of the hottest commodities--corn. We are pleased to present the slides and video of his presentation. Corn's Demand Market Presentation slides (PDF) Video ends at 12:30 mark. We apologize for the technical difficulties at the beginning of this presentation. --> --> Please feel free to contact Darin at: 800.485.4000 ext.3679 or darin.newsom@telventdtn.com Twitter: @DarinNewsom www.telventdtn.com

By NIBARead article

CFTC Roundtable: Ownership and Control Report

October 15, 2010

2 min read

CFTC Roundtable: Ownership and Control Report

In my role as Chairman of NIBA, I was invited to represent our organization at the CFTC Staff Roundtable held in Washington, DC on September 16. The topic was OCR (Ownership and Control Report), a proposed regulation scheduled to take effect as early as January 2012. Also present were representatives from several U.S. exchanges, CTAs and a working group associated with FIA. Among other things, this regulation will require all defined "reporting entities," a/k/a "root data sources," to provide increased account ownership and control information, not only at the time of opening, but on a continuing weekly basis in a report filed directly with the CFTC. If this regulation is approved in its proposed form, all IBs, regardless of the size of the office, type of business transacted or guarantee will be designated by the CFTC as "root data sources." IBs would not be considered small businesses which might otherwise...

By NIBARead article

NFA Offers Guidance on CFTC's Final Forex Regulations

October 15, 2010

4 min read

NFA Offers Guidance on CFTC's Final Forex Regulations

Notice to Members I-10-21 October 13, 2010 NFA offers guidance on CFTC's final forex regulations The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) final Forex regulations are effective on October 18, 2010. NFA staff has received a number of inquiries from Members seeking further guidance and clarification on certain requirements. Based on further consultation with CFTC staff on Friday, October 8th, this Notice provides additional guidance on the following areas: Risk Disclosure Statement Required by CFTC Regulation 5.5 CFTC Regulation 5.5 prohibits FCMs, RFEDs, and in the case of an introduced account, IBs from opening a retail Forex account until the FCM, RFED or IB has provided the customer with the required disclosure statement, along with the most recent quarterly customer account performance information, and obtained a signed acknowledgement of receipt of the disclosure document from the customer. Firms are not required to provide this disclosure statement to, or obtain the disclosure...

By NIBARead article

LEGAL CORNER: Do You Still Know-Your-Customers? You Better.

September 7, 2010

2 min read

LEGAL CORNER: Do You Still Know-Your-Customers? You Better.

On January 3, 2011, amendments will become effective to NFA Compliance Rule 2-30, commonly referred to as the Know-Your-Customer Rule. (See also NFA website and Notice to Members I -10-15 dated July 28, 2010). Hopefully, everyone is well versed with the current rule which requires NFA Members to obtain information about their customers and provide appropriate risk disclosures. Note, however, that the forthcoming amendments will broaden your responsibilities. The changes to the Rule can be summarized as follows: The Rule will soon apply not just to individual customers, but ALL non-ECP customers; FCM Members must annually request that active customers notify them of any material changes to the information previously provided by the customer. (Like a negative consent letter, if the customer does not respond, the information on file is deemed verified. If, though, the customer provides material changes to the information, any FCM, IB or CTA Member that solicits/communicates...

NIBA Chairman Melinda Schramm to Participate in CFTC Proposed Account Ownership and Control Report

Melinda Schramm, Chairman of the Board and found of the NIBA has been invited to participate in a CFTC public meeting on September 16 in Washington, DC. The purpose of this meeting isto discuss the proposed Account Ownership and Control Report. This proposed regulation identifies IBs and CTAs as business entities under the definitions in the proposals which may have increased responsibilities for identifying the real owners/controls of trading accounts. Details of this proposal can be found in the Federal Register at pg. 41775. If you would like to comment, please email Melinda Schramm at melinda@futuresrep.com. A summary of the meeting will appear in the NIBA Newsletter and at the NIBA Meeting, November 2 in Chicago.

Introducing Fund Dynamics: A Fully Customized Accounting and Administration Company

CTA and IB's – Where is your Business going to be One, Two, Five Years from Now? During my last 20 years in the commodities business, I have seen many changes. Some of these brought success and others, disaster. From the early days of facilitating the original Bermuda hedge funds, South American Crushers, domestic Soy product users, to today, the most important thing has remained, knowing who you are doing business with, and understanding whose best interest they put first. The Price Futures Group is unique in that they understand that there are three vital components to a simple and successful business: First: it is ALWAYS the fault of the highest levels of management if a business is failing. When it comes down to it, the people at the top make all of the decisions, and while many directors, managers, owners, or operators blame their employee’s for their failures, it...

By NIBARead article

The Medium Defines the Message: Social Media and Compliance Considerations

August 16, 2010

6 min read

The Medium Defines the Message: Social Media and Compliance Considerations

Everyone who has tried their hand at marketing has obsessed over the content of an ad or promo piece, and we have all struggled with the difficulty of reaching and engaging our target audience. I won’t diminish the importance of the message, but to reach certain audiences, the medium of communication may be as important as the message you are sending. In 1964, Marshall McLuhan declared that” the medium was the message”. He couldn’t possibly foresee Twitter or even the internet, but his words are truly prophetic. Media has transcended the mere delivery of information and become interactive, even social. Web sites and email are still vital technologies, however utilizing social media to inform, interact, and engage has become nearly as important as your website. You Tube video sharing can be a powerful visual tool. If you are not LinkedIn, you are missing out on an easy way to network...

By NIBARead article

Page 108

NIBA Journal

Interview with Bucky Isaacson: Co-founder CTA EXPO

Updated NFA Documents

NIBA Conference Session: Generating Website Traffic [VIDEO]

NIBA Session: Corn's Market Demand [VIDEO]

CFTC Roundtable: Ownership and Control Report

NFA Offers Guidance on CFTC's Final Forex Regulations

LEGAL CORNER: Do You Still Know-Your-Customers? You Better.

NIBA Chairman Melinda Schramm to Participate in CFTC Proposed Account Ownership and Control Report

Introducing Fund Dynamics: A Fully Customized Accounting and Administration Company

The Medium Defines the Message: Social Media and Compliance Considerations

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