NIBA Journal

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

Chairman's Letter
Member Announcements
May 14, 2014
3 min read

Chairman's Letter

Dear Members - The NIBA submitted our comment letter to the NFA regarding its capital requirement proposal for CTAs and CPOs and other changes to the CTA registration status. We are firmly opposed to capital requirements for CTAs and to the elimination of registration status for the group of current CTAs which NFA refers to as “inactive.” NIBA believes CPO criteria may be quite different than that for CTAs, and should be considered separately. The full text of our submission is found in this newsletter. We understand the NFA is considering all the submissions -- we hear there were many. We have requested a further opportunity to discuss this issue with the NFA before any regulations are changed. During our May 1 meeting in New York, the NFA was a part of a panel presentation on this issue, and on concerns surrounding the ability of swaps registrants to comply with...

By NIBARead article
NYC Meeting a Success!
Member Announcements
May 14, 2014
1 min read

NYC Meeting a Success!

Thanks to everyone who helped make the May 1 event in New York City a success. We hit a new attendance high for our NYC meetings - 135 IBs, CTAs, and FCMs. Thank you to our first panel speakers: Al Helmig, Jim Steel, Fred Penha, and Howard Hopkins. Their review and outlook for the energy and metal markets was comprehensive - they are all experts in the field. Thank you to our second panel speakers: Susan Osmanski, Brian Clark and John Brand. They presented a very complete update on where swaps registrants stand with regard to compliance with current rules for IBs and CTAs, and the NFA proposal regarding capital requirements for CTAs/CPOs. We actually ran out of time for discussion on the issues -- our members had questions! A special thanks to NIBA member Howard Rennell, The Windham Group, NY, and member of the New York Athletic Club for...

By NIBARead article
Questions for the NFA? Comments for NFA? No problem just call the NIBA!
Member Announcements
May 14, 2014
1 min read

Questions for the NFA? Comments for NFA? No problem just call the NIBA!

The NIBA is now offering a premium service for its members and will be acting as a liaison between the association’s membership and the NFA. Do you have something you want to bring to the NFA but are hesitant to do so directly, let the NIBA do it for you. The NIBA is your advocate in the industry. We encourage all members to bring their issues to us. In turn, we will address each and every concern anonymously with the NFA. We have found all registrants periodically have questions on business practices, compliance, registrations, etc on which they would like NFA’s opinion. We have also found many members do not feel comfortable calling their regulator directly to ask something about which they may be unsure. We all appreciate a helping hand at times, and this is exactly what the NIBA will do for you, so please do not hesitate to...

By NIBARead article
Arditti Center announces Dennis Chookaszian, former CEO of CNA Insurance as keynote speaker for June Risk Leadership Program
Member Announcements
May 14, 2014
2 min read

Arditti Center announces Dennis Chookaszian, former CEO of CNA Insurance as keynote speaker for June Risk Leadership Program

This June, DePaul University's Arditti Center for Risk Management is hosting a two-day executive risk leadership program led by Dr. Mark Frigo, Director of the Center for Strategy, Execution and Valuation, and Director of the Strategic Risk Management Lab in the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business; and Steve Lindo, an industry expert and educator with more than 20 years of risk management practice in the U.S. and internationally. The program—offered with both one and two day options—will be held Friday, June 13, 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 14, 2014, 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. DePaul recently held a Risk Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and one of the major themes was a rising need for greater board engagement and education in risk management. This program offers a unique combination of the following elements: • Participants drawn from non-executive board directors, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Managing...

Legacy Swaps Brokers and Regulatory Outtrades
Swaps FX
May 14, 2014
15 min read

Legacy Swaps Brokers and Regulatory Outtrades

Traditionally, counterparties executing swaps transactions in the unregulated Over-The-Counter (“OTC”) marketplace maintained entire teams of staff devoted to the credit or delivery risk of a counter-party. Inclusive in this regime was the preeminent notion that brokers never held client funds of any kind. This key discrepancy may cause various regulatory outtrades between regulators and parties in the Introducing Broker regime, most notably the legacy swap broker and the traditional Introducing Broker (“IB”). With the move to central counter-party clearing, it is likely that legacy swaps firms will see a cost-shift to that of compliance.  The rules promulgated in response to the Financial Crisis of 2008 and subsequent failures of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group (“PFG”) have focused primarily on the protection of customer assets and increasing market transparencies. New methods of execution, whether mandated by federal authorities or unintentionally created from dark liquidity pools, have caused significant discrepancies with...

By NIBA
CTA Spotlight: Boston & Zechiel Management
Managed Futures
May 14, 2014
3 min read

CTA Spotlight: Boston & Zechiel Management

Trading is difficult. If it was easy, everyone would do it. To excel at trading is even that much harder. Successfully competing against some of societies’ smartest and most ambitious requires employing a trading strategy that gives one an edge. Without it, one can only hope for mediocrity. Boston & Zechiel Management has two trading programs that aim for that edge in order to differentiate ourselves from the other successful trading programs in the managed future space.  We view the equity markets through the rhythm of cycles, similar to that of the ocean tides. Both have repeatable and predictable patterns. Our edge is the ability to find actionable (profitable) patterns in the stock market on an annual time frame. Our Annual Cycle Trading Strategy (ACTS) is a long-only, hedged, equity index trading system that seeks to hold long positions during the positive portion of the market cycle, and then liquidate...

By NIBARead article
R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO)| NIBA Member Spotlight
May 14, 2014
8 min read

R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO)| NIBA Member Spotlight

Firm Name: R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO) Founded: 1914 – Celebrating firm’s Centennial this year Number of Brokers: Approximately 400 IBs in the RJO network – the largest IB network in the industry NIBA Member Since: 2013  Web: www.rjobrien.com  About the Firm: How did you get started? Do you provide additional services besides brokerage? RJO had humble beginnings as a butter and egg merchant. Founded as John V. McCarthy & Company on Oct. 17, 1914, John McCarthy started the company pushing butter on a cart.  An immigrant of Ireland, he was the first in his family to attend high school.  In 1919, the firm became a founding member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  John’s son-in-law, Robert J. O’Brien, Sr., joined the firm in 1952.  Like his father-in-law, he became active in leadership of the Exchange and took over as Chairman of CME for two terms in 1967 and 1968. Through perseverance,...

By NIBARead article
Too Important to Fail--Another Look
May 14, 2014
5 min read

Too Important to Fail--Another Look

The latest issue of the IMF’s Global Financial Stability report (GSFR, March 2014) provides a comprehensive analysis of the “too important to fail” (TITF) problem. http://www.imf.org/External/Pubs/FT/GFSR/2014/01/index.htm The TITF problem is a well-known one in banking literature, and it arises from the fact that in an interconnected financial world, the failure of a major financial institution can have severe negative macroeconomic and macrofinancial impacts on both a national and global basis, therefore forcing governments to intervene to prevent a financial collapse. The two decades preceding the 2008 financial crisis witnessed an unprecedented period of financial globalization. Cross-border bank claims (as reported by the Bank for International Settlements, BIS) had increased to about 50% of global GDP by 2007. Moreover, the financial globalization was accompanied by an increasingly complex web of interconnectedness among major financial institutions in about 20 core countries, which accounted for 95% of the total cross-border claims. The TITF...

By NIBARead article
Housekeeping
Housekeeping
May 13, 2014
6 min read

Housekeeping

CFTC Expedited No-Action Relief for CPO Delegation On May 12, 2014, the CFTC issued registration no-action relief on an expedited basis for CPOs who delegate certain activities to a registered CPO.  Under this streamlined approach, the delegating CPO must represent in its request letter that it satisfies the applicable criteria.  Such criteria includes, in part, representations that the delegating CPO: (1) has delegated to the designated CPO all of its investment management authority with respect to the commodity pool via a legally binding document, (2) does not participate in the solicitation of participants for the commodity pool, (3) does not manage any property of the commodity pool, (4) is not subject to a statutory disqualification, and (5) has delegated to the designated CPO the maintenance of the commodity pool’s books and records.  The delegating and designated CPOs must agree to be jointly and severally liable for any violation of the...

By NIBARead article
Tech Talk: CQG Discusses Mobile Trading Technology
Trading Technology
May 13, 2014
6 min read

Tech Talk: CQG Discusses Mobile Trading Technology

The Rise of Mobile It’s no surprise that mobile device use has taken off in the era of bigger, better, faster. Once a luxury, mobile devices have proven to be a game changer for millions who rely on them to improve their lives both personally and professionally. Mobile web adoption is growing eight times faster now than it did in the 1990s and early 2000s; and surprisingly, 80% of time spent on mobile devices is inside apps (not talking or texting), according to DigitalBuzz. A third of internet users go online using mostly their phones, not desktop or laptop computers, according to Pew Research Internet Project. What’s impressive is that mobile tools are no longer a carbon copy of the desktop platform. The applications have gotten so advanced that users are accessing mobile even when not in “mobile” situations. We’re seeing mobile used in two very different ways: first, in...

By NIBARead article
Page 73

Categories

Business Development
CME Updates
Compliance/Legal
Featured Member of the Month
Focus on the Membership
Housekeeping
MF Global Updates
Managed Futures
Marketing
NIBA - Celebrating 35 Years

The united voice for derivatives professionals since 1991.

Association

  • About NIBA
  • Leadership
By NIBA
Read article
Read article
Member Announcements
NIBA Briefings
Operations
Podcast
Resource Articles
Risk Management
Swaps FX
Trading Technology
Uncategorized

Join NIBA

Become a member and get access to exclusive content, networking opportunities, and industry insights.

  • Contact Us

    • Members

    • Join NIBA
    • Member Login
    • Member Benefits

    Resources

    • What Is an IB?
    • NIBA Journal
    • Broker Toolbox
    • Events

    Directories

    • Broker Directory
    • Service Providers
    • Jobs Board

    Join Our Newsletter

    Get the latest NIBA Journal insights and industry updates in your inbox.

    © 2026 National Introducing Brokers Association. All rights reserved.

    Privacy PolicyTerms of Service
    NIBA - Celebrating 35 Years
    Our AssociationMembershipEventsJournalService ProvidersToolboxDirectory