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March Chairman’s Letter

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NIBA
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Members -

Wow - has this been a busy 30 days for the NIBA!

Thank you to all the FCMs and Service Provider representatives who attended the Thank You Reception on February 25 in Chicago. Over 40 NIBA members gathered to review our 2015 activities, and preview the events scheduled for 2016.

On March 4 & 5, NIBA was invited to exhibit at RJ O’Brien’s Annual IB Conference. RJO’s staff presented a terrific program which included cybersecurity compliance and IB business generating ideas, as well as product sessions. Thanks to RJO for a great time and the opportunity to catch-up with NIBA members and old friends.

This month we have progress to report on two NIBA initiatives originated as suggestions from our Advisory Group. We met with representatives of the CME Group to discuss a series of videos which can be used by brokers to more fully understand the usefulness of various of their products, and their value to our customers. More on this as the project develops. NIBA board member chairperson in charge of this project is Tom Sandy, ts@ricedairy.com.

We are also working with DePaul University in order to put together an intern program in which our members can participate. DePaul students have been actively engaged in some of our FCM and IB members offices in the past. But now, we are working together to get students who are interested in the markets and how our industry works together with our members. Jerry Nolan, jnolan@countycorkllc.com and Tom Sandy are NIBA board members chairing this project.

Comments regarding CFTC proposals for regulating Automated Trading (AT) are due at the Commission by March 16. NIBA’s comment submission will be posted on this website.

And last but certainly not least, the April 20 spring NIBA membership meeting at the New York Athletic Club, NYC. is fast approaching. NFA cybersecurity regulation became effective March 1 for all registrants. Our afternoon event includes a session on the implementation of the regulation as well as metals and energy markets updates and outlooks -- presented by industry experts. This event is sponsored by Straits Financial and CME Group, and is free for all NIBA IB and CTA members. Registration is open now . Any questions - contact board member NYC conference chairman, Howard Rennell, hrennell@e-windham.com.

The NIBA may be celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, but its easy to see we’ve got lots of work to do in order to keep providing value and keep our members growing and strong. If you would like to volunteer to work on any committee, conference or initiative, please contact NIBA President Mike Burke, mikeb@highgroundtrading.com or me, melinda@futuresrep.com.

Best, Melinda Schramm
Founder & Chairman
NIBA - Celebrating our 25th Anniversary Year

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