NIBA Journal

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

April 13, 2017

Chairman's Letter - April 2017

“We do believe there are too many regulators...” Sharon Brown-Hruska, 1960- Sharon Brown-Hruska is a former Acting Chairman of the CFTC (2004-2005) and current director at NERA Economic Consulting. As a member of the Trump administration’s “landing” team, she told attendees at the New Risk in Energy Conference in Houston, TX earlier this month, that streamlining regulatory processes and relying upon fewer regulators is a Trump priority. Although she admitted there is no “game plan” as yet, she said regulatory reform is coming. The perennially proposed merger between the SEC and CFTC could be pursued “if it made sense, if there are real synergies there.” She went on to say that personally she didn’t think there were enough commonalities for the merger to take place, but the discussion is still open in this administration. Additionally, Ms. Hruska said that another possible area of reform is to “put some teeth into...

2017 NIBA SoCal - Macro-economic Outlook 2017

Erik Norland, Executive Director and Senior Economist of CME Group will present his overview of the entire economic spectrum in his presentation on the 2017 macro-economic outlook. Topics will include: The impact of Trump's fiscal policies on currency, bond and equity markets, implications of the new Administration's policies on trade and immigration, economic growth and investing in a highly leveraged world, Brexit aftershocks and the future of the EU, and China - another potential source of surprises. Watch embedded video

2017 NIBA SoCal - Cyber-Security - Annual Review Requirements for your Information Systems Security Programs (ISSP)

As you are well aware, the number and sophistication of malicious cyber threat incidents in the financial sector has increased dramatically over the past five years and is expected to continue to grow. Robert DeMuria of Compliance Supervisors, Inc. will bring you up to speed on very important ISSP requirements, what are NFA requirements to monitor and review the effectiveness of your ISSP, cybersecurity training and making adjustments to your ISSP. Watch embedded video

2017 NIBA SoCal - Marketing is a Process

Whether you’re an IB or a CTA, selling retail trading, institutional execution, or managed futures - marketing starts with a process. From creating leads, recording lead and sales notes, to ongoing lead management, Shane Stiles of financial marketing and technology firm Gate 39 Media walks through defining a marketing process and options for managing your leads and marketing activities. Watch embedded video Download slides from the presentation (PDF)

By NIBARead article

March 29, 2017

3 min read

A Broker's Expanding Obligations

By Matthew Kluchenek and Michael Sefton It’s no secret that disruptive trading practices are a key concern of market regulators. Spoofing and other disruptive trading practices have garnered attention in recent years and traders and advisers have had to learn quickly the ropes on permissible trading practices. Now, it appears that FCMs (and possibly IBs) may have additional obligations as a result of the intense regulatory focus on disruptive trading practices. Recently, an FCM agreed to pay a $190,000 fine in settling a disciplinary matter at CME for violations of CME Rules 575.D and 576. See CME 15-0185-BC - Saxo Bank A/S (March 20, 2017). CME Rule 575.D prohibits trading practices that disrupt “the orderly conduct of trading or the fair execution of transactions.” CME Rule 576 prohibits the use of a Globex ID by another party. In this matter, the FCM operated an auto-liquidation algorithm to liquidate its clients’...

By NIBARead article

March 29, 2017

2 min read

Ask NFA - March 2017

As your industry advocate, the NIBA provides many services which help your business stay in compliance with NFA regulations. “Ask the NFA,” is the way you can ask questions about those regulations and compliance requirements without having to call NFA directly. Just email us at nfacomments@theniba.com and we will get the answers for you. Please keep in mind the purpose of this contact is to keep the lines of communication between the NFA and NIBA members. This month’s questions were selected from those submitted by NIBA members. The answers were supplied by NFA staff. I am an AP of an IB and also want to become a CTA. What considerations are there for both firms if I decide to proceed with this setup? All NFA Members must meet the compliance and registration requirements associated with their categories. Visit NFA's and the CFTC's websites for additional information regarding registration and compliance...

By NIBARead article

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - March 2017

March 29, 2017

4 min read

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - March 2017

Written by: Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. & Jessica I. Brown, CAMS NATIONAL FUTURES ASSOCIATION Financial Reporting Requirements of Commodity Pool Operators The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) amended certain items of Part 4 regulations applicable to commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) and their financial reporting requirements. As per the amendments, CFTC regulations now permit the following: The use, in certain circumstances, of specified additional alternative generally accepted accounting principles, standards or practices; A CPO to provide unaudited Annual Report for a pool’s first fiscal year, is specific criteria are met; and A CPO to provide an unaudited Annual Report, if, during any fiscal year, the pool only had insiders as participants. In response to the Part 4 amendments, the NFA published Notice I-17-08. To claim the relief now available to CPOs, as part of the amendments to Part 4 regulations, a notice or exemption filing must be submitted to the NFA....

8 Reasons Why Every Financial Services Firm Needs a CRM

Whether you are a single fund manager or an advisor with 10-100 agents, you’re under pressure to meet ever-changing compliance requirements while running and growing your business. No small task. However, there are plenty of technology solutions available to help you succeed. A CRM enables you to manage prospect and client relationships—and the data associated with these contacts—from one central hub. 40% of salespeople still use informal means such as Microsoft Excel or Outlook to store its lead and customer data. (HubSpot, 2016) Not sure if you’re ready to trade your Excel spreadsheets for a CRM? Here are 5 signs that your financial services firm needs a CRM: You lack a centralized data location across your organization Reporting and analysis is tedious and time-consuming. You’re losing track of data. You’re unable to stay in touch or call up data on the go. You treat every customer the same. #1 Fill...

Intent to Nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo as CFTC Chairman

President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate a number of key administration officials. This announcement included nomination for Chairman of the CFTC. Below is from the White House Office of the Press Secretary: J. Christopher Giancarlo of New Jersey will serve as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Mr. Giancarlo was confirmed to be a Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by unanimous consent of the Senate on June 3, 2014. He was designated as Acting Chairman of the Commission on January 20, 2017. Before entering public service, Mr. Giancarlo served as the Executive Vice President of GFI Group Inc., a financial services firm. Prior to joining GFI, he was Executive Vice President and U.S. Legal Counsel of Fenics Software and was a corporate partner in the New York law firm of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. He attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New...

Nurturing Mid and Late Stage Leads

Financial technology marketers are steadily improving at creating awareness-stage marketing content. Many who were once verbose and blustery are now producing more customer-centric thought leadership. The white papers, blogs and articles they produce today provide substantially more value to the audience and are doing a better job of attracting leads into the funnel. However, fin-tech marketers’ ability to convert those leads into qualified sales opportunities and revenue is still lagging behind other industries. They need to get better at nurturing mid- and late-stage leads. Awareness content may attract leads, but if marketers really want to contribute to revenue, they have to keep leads engaged and influence buyers deeper in the evaluation process. For content to deliver ROI at these later stages, it has to answer the questions that prospective customers are asking as they progress through the decision process. But Marketing can’t create this content on its own. Success at...

By NIBARead article

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NIBA Journal

Chairman's Letter - April 2017

2017 NIBA SoCal - Macro-economic Outlook 2017

2017 NIBA SoCal - Cyber-Security - Annual Review Requirements for your Information Systems Security Programs (ISSP)

2017 NIBA SoCal - Marketing is a Process

A Broker's Expanding Obligations

Ask NFA - March 2017

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - March 2017

8 Reasons Why Every Financial Services Firm Needs a CRM

Intent to Nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo as CFTC Chairman

Nurturing Mid and Late Stage Leads

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