NIBA Journal

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

August 17, 2017

Chairman's Letter - August 2017

“Change is not merely necessary to life - it is life” - Alvin Toffler (1928-2016) Alvin Toffler was an American writer and futurist best known for his works on modern technologies and the communication revolution. The above quote appeared in Future Shock, first published in 1970. Changes which will have a profound effect on our professional lives have happened this summer. On August 3, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to confirm Chris Giancarlo as Chairman of the CFTC. Commissioner Giancarlo spoken many times about reviewing current regulation. His KISS initiative is an example. He has also discussed rewriting swaps trading rules to better reflect the Dodd-Frank Act saying that the rules are “highly over engineered, disproportionately modeled on U.S. futures markets and biased against both human discretion and technological innovation.” Under his leadership, the Commission has recently extended temporary relief for certain position aggregation requirements until August, 2019. This change...

Interest in Cattle Futures has Never Been Higher

AT A GLANCE Massive herd expansion helps fuel surge in trading Analyst: Feedlots are in as good a position as they’ve been in years Beef producers are building the U.S. cattle herd at one of the fastest paces on record, as higher cattle prices and stronger exports fuel healthy profit margins. The expansion comes just a few years after the U.S. herd shrank to a six-decade low amid severe drought in the Southern U.S. Plains and near-record corn prices. The market resurgence is reflected in CME Group’s benchmark Live Cattle futures contract, for which the number of open positions, or open interest, has reached all-time highs. CME’s 10 highest-ever daily open interest figures for Live Cattle futures (the contract was launched in 1964) have been posted since late April, topped by 431,718 contracts at the close of trading May 2. Live cattle open interest averaged 407,800 contracts during June 2017,...

By NIBARead article

Ascent Introduces Intelligence-as-a-Service

July 27, 2017

3 min read

Ascent Introduces Intelligence-as-a-Service

What is Intelligence as a Service? Intelligence-as-a-Service (“IntaaS”) is the combination of automated domain expertise with traditional internet software. Imagine if your CRM came pre-filled with customer information, your taxes were pre-loaded and completed in your tax software, or your digital compliance system was pre-filled with all your data: this is the promise of IntaaS. Software-as-a-Service reduced the marginal cost of delivering services. IntaaS reduces the cost of both creating and delivering a unit of intelligence to customers. What we Do In systems where the inputs are standard and the output is identical (think self-driving cars), deep learning works extraordinarily well. Even in those systems, miniscule failure rates are extraordinarily risky. In systems where the inputs are dynamic and the outputs are targeted (n=1), deep learning must be supplemented by domain expertise and domain-specific technology (think regulation and law). This is what we have done at Ascent. By combining our...

NIBA/DePaul Thank You!

This year's Annual Summer Symposium co-hosted by NIBA and DePaul University was a huge success. We would like to thank each and every one of you who attended and supported this event. We would also like to thank John Lothian who delivered an excellent key note speech to kick things off as well as the rest of our moderators and panelists. Special thanks to DePaul University who has been a tremendous partner and great resource for the association, its members and the industry at large. Below are a few pictures from the Symposium and check back soon for video of the event.

NIBA Fall Chicago Conference Announcement

NIBA is proud to announce that registration is now open for this year's Fall Chicago Conference. Be sure to reserve your spot early as space will be limited and check back to the website for updates and announcements on speakers and this year's agenda. https://www.theniba.com/niba-event/annual-niba-fall-chicago-conference/

Financial Trends to Watch in 2nd Half of 2017

Financial Trends to Watch in Second Half of 2017 The U.S. dollar losing its safe-haven status, euro gaining in value despite Fed rate hikes and regional trade pacts are among trends to watch through 2017. Access video to learn more.

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Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - July 2017

July 27, 2017

5 min read

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - July 2017

Written by: Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. Jessica I. Brown, CAMS Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) Third-Party Record Keeping Relief CTAs now have the ability to request relief from certain Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Regulation 4.33 and 4.7(c)(2) record-keeping requirements. CFTC Exemptive Letter No 17-24 provided CTAs relief from the requirement that books and records must be kept at the registrant’s main office. Letter 17-24, issued by the Division of Swap Dealers and Intermediary Oversight (“DSIO”), allows CTAs to submit a request for relief so that the firm may use a third-party record keeper to comply with Regulations 4.33 and 4.7(c)(2). The request for relief is not self-executing and must be submitted to the National Futures Association (“NFA”) and CFTC through the NFA’s exemption system. The NFA issued Notice to Members I-17-11, which provides detailed instructions for submitting the request for relief as per CFTC Letter No 17-24. CTA and Commodity...

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Dodd-Frank Wants Other Markets to Be More Like Futures Markets – And That’s A Good Thing!

July 27, 2017

7 min read

Dodd-Frank Wants Other Markets to Be More Like Futures Markets – And That’s A Good Thing!

Written By: Leslie Sutphen, President, Financial Markets Consulting, LLC There has been much talk about repealing most of the Dodd-Frank act now that we have a change of party in the Presidency. To many in the futures industry, this seems like a good thing; however, in determining whether the Volcker Rule and Title VII of Dodd Frank should be repealed, it is important to remember why Dodd-Frank was passed to begin with. The act was designed to address very real issues with lack of regulation, lack of transparency, and poor risk management practices that brought about the Financial Crisis of 2007 to 2008. Wholesale repeal of the Act would result in a return to the very risky conditions that developed with the massive deregulation that occurred from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. The financial crisis was caused by a proliferation of sub-prime lending and the bundling of risky...

Vela Trading Techologies to Purchase OptionsCity

Combined company will deliver an expanded set of front office products and services, including market access, risk management & analytics New York, London, Chicago, June 20, 2017 – Vela Trading Technologies LLC (Vela), a global leader in high performance trading and market data technology, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire OptionsCity Software, a global provider of futures and options trading and analytics solutions. The OptionsCity acquisition will expand Vela’s front-office capabilities to include advanced analytics and risk management tools, enhance its market access managed services with additional trading and content solutions, and accelerate its data cloud strategy. The acquisition will also accelerate OptionsCity’s growth strategy, providing its clients with access to additional asset classes, trading venues, geographies, low-latency data feeds, and market access products. Jennifer Nayar, CEO of Vela, said, “This acquisition will continue to enhance the value we deliver to our clients. We are delighted to enhance...

Marketing Managed Accounts & Funds Panel Preview

We are pleased to have a panel this year that will focus on the regulatory considerations—the “traps”—that await CTAs who market funds or managed account programs. We will center on the key CFTC and NFA rules, and the issues spawned by those rules, and take a peek into the future with respect to potential developments. Topics will include the treatment of performance results and proprietary trading results. We’ll also look at the impact of the JOBS Act on fund-raising, and what’s been keeping the regulators’ enforcement teams busy. Ultimately, the goal is to provide you with hands-on advice and insights. If you have not already registered please do so at the following link and keep in mind there is limited capacity at this event: Register HERE

By NIBARead article

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NIBA Journal

Chairman's Letter - August 2017

Interest in Cattle Futures has Never Been Higher

Ascent Introduces Intelligence-as-a-Service

NIBA/DePaul Thank You!

NIBA Fall Chicago Conference Announcement

Financial Trends to Watch in 2nd Half of 2017

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - July 2017

Dodd-Frank Wants Other Markets to Be More Like Futures Markets – And That’s A Good Thing!

Vela Trading Techologies to Purchase OptionsCity

Marketing Managed Accounts & Funds Panel Preview

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