Dear Members -
The NIBA is committed to providing education to its members about issues and events that impact compliance duties, enhance ability to generate revenue and generally affect business.
On September 10, 2012, we notified the PFG bankruptcy trustee that NIBA opposed one of his options to distribute funds and customer information to a single highest bidder FCM rather than directly to prior PFG customers. The bankruptcy court has since authorized a transfer of up to $123,000,000 total directly to commodity customers on or before October 8, 2012.
On September 12, 2012, over 200 IBs, CTAs, FCMs and APs attended the 21st NIBA Fall Conference. Every session was very well received - some presentations were standing-room-only! Follow-up articles written by the speakers, in addition to their contact information, are included in this month's newsletter.
Also about September 12, John Corzine, former CEO of MF Global (MFGI) was interviewed for two days by Justice Department investigators. Although we have yet to see what results those sessions produced, the House of Representatives investigative committee is due to release its report regarding MFGI within the next few weeks.
September 27, 2012 finds NIBA’s legal representatives, Schuyler, Roche & Crisham (SRC), at the Beef Conference in Amarillo, Texas. In addition to more traditional sessions, this year’s meeting includes updates on both MFGI and PFG. The meeting organizers requested the NIBA to participate to review those situations and discuss the measures being taken by the CFTC and NFA in response.
The NIBA will participate in the CFTC Roundtable in Chicago on September 28, 2012, where the focus will be Treasury Department proposed rules on customer due diligence requirements. NIBA has been on record since the 2010 Roundtable held in Washington, DC discussing virtually the same topics. NIBA believed then, and still believes, that much of the information called for by the CFTC in response to the Treasury Department’s proposals is duplicative, would add unreasonable financial and time-spend burdens to an IB’s operation and would not further the stated agency goal of knowing the ultimate beneficial account owner.
October promises to be busy too. Many customers will be receiving distribution checks from the PFG bankruptcy trustee. While the 30-40% amounts currently approved for distribution are far from the 100% customers have the right to, this is a positive initial step. Distribution forms are found on the trustee’s website at pfgchapter7.com. As the anniversary of MFGI’s collapse nears, the NIBA will follow its resolution as it unfolds and keep you informed on this website.
Applications to register for benefits under the CME Group’s Family Farmer and Rancher Protection Fund available due to the collapse of PFG, must be received by close of business 5:00 pm Central Time, October 5, 2012. The application form and other information can be found at http://www.cmegroup.com/familyfarmerfund.
This fall there are many more events NIBA will participate in, contribute to, and influence. That adds up to a lot of education.
Best regards,
Melinda